Unusual Absence
by XxChocoMelloxX
Summary: After not seeing Izaya in Ikebukuro for almost 4 months, Shizuo begins to get a little suspicious on what the flea is up to. Izaya hasn't been feeling well for a while and thinks Shinra's diagnosis is a joke. eventual Shizaya, mpreg, lime, attempted suicide, character angst and depression. Book cover picture is by TheBetisOff on DeviantART.
1. Chapter 1

_What a shame I think it is that there are like no mpreg stories for this couple yet. I think there is one but it hasn't been updated in a while. Anyway, I am writing this because I love DRRR! and I wanted to give this a shot. Also expect a Mikado/Kida oneshot from me sometime in the hopefully near future._

_Shizuo: Cookie doesn't own Durarara! or its characters. _

_Me: If I did, I would make the light novel available in America because I can't find it anywhere!_

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Unusual Absence

Something isn't right.

That's what Shizuo Heiwajima thought to himself as he inhaled more of that delicious nicotine into his mouth through the lit cigarette in his fingers. He was strolling down the same crowded street in Ikebukuro for the fifth time today looking for a certain flea to be hiding in the shadows. But alas, the informant was nowhere to be seen.

Of course he was talking about Izaya Orihara. It had been like this for 3 or 4 months now. The thought of not fighting with the bastard unsettled Shizuo greatly. There has to be something going on. Izaya must be plotting something. Yes, that's the only realistic answer.

If that's the case, Shizuo had quickly decided that he had no other choice but to pay a visit to the flea and see what the hell he is doing that is keeping him from picking a fight.

* * *

Izaya was alone in his office, lying on the couch, covering his eyes to block the sun's cruel morning rays. It was bad enough he had a migraine. He knew today wouldn't be a good day, which is why he sent Namie home for the day, insisting that she wasn't going to be needed at all.

Rolling onto his back, Izaya groaned outwardly._ Fuck, I've been feeling so crappy for the past few months that I haven't been able to get out much._ This killed the informant because he has genuinely missed the daily squabbles with dear Shizu-chan. But right now, he just wasn't feeling like himself at all.

He already paid a visit to the psycho doctor a few weeks ago. But Shinra said he couldn't do much for him at the time. He drew some blood for testing and sent him on his way. Then two days later, Celty met up with him in the park nearby to tell him something important.

Pfft, the conversation they had made him giggle. It couldn't have been more unbelievable. Izaya still lay there, convincing himself he must have read the text wrong on the PDA. He shook his head and stood up rather shakily from the bed. He stretched out his aching back and felt his shirt slide up a little letting the cold air hit his stomach. Izaya then descended over to the other side of the room to his desk, and pulled up the chat room.

Almost immediately, Celty opened up a private messaging session with him.

_[Setton-san: Izaya, please tell me you have taken Shinra and my words into consideration.]_

_[Kanra: I'm staying at home or at the office a lot more like you asked but only because I have felt like total shit for the past several weeks.]_

_[Setton-san: Good. I suppose you still don't believe what Shinra's results were?]_

_[Kanra: Nooooope.] _

_[Setton-san: Izaya, this is Shinra, please promise Celty and I that you will stay out of fights with Shizuo. At least for now as a safety precaution.]_

_[Kanra: Since I love you humans so much, I'll do it. Just this once. I don't really feel like messing with Shizu-chan today. And I probably won't as long as I feel bad.]_

_[Setton-san: Speaking of Shizuo, Shinra and I were wondering, if what we say is true, would Shizuo be…?]_

_[Kanra: If by the small chance you are correct in your assumptions, yes he would be. I haven't slept with anyone else with me on the bottom. How humiliating. Amazing what alcohol can do to ya.]_

_[Setton-san: We agree whole-heartedly. Take care, Izaya. And please, for the sake of you both, be safe.]_

_[Kanra: No promises.]_

_-Kanra is offline-_

Izaya decided it would be best to log off. He didn't want to talk to Mikado-kun; he'll no doubt start asking questions. Plus, he could feel a slight tremor, which could only mean…

A fist punched through the door, drawing the brunette's attention to it. The abused door was soon kicked in and there stood the strongest man in Ikebukuro, Shizuo Heiwajima.

"Shizu-chan~!" Izaya exclaimed happily, "To what do I owe such a pleasant visit?"

"You…where have you been?" the feral man growled.

The informant smiled, deciding to be sarcastic today, "Here, obviously."

The blonde's patience was beginning to wear thin, in a flash, he had Izaya pinned up against the wall, "Listen you damn flea, I don't know what you are up to or what you are planning, but I will stop it before it even begins."

Being used to this treatment, said flea was not fazed, "I honestly have no idea what you are talking about. I've been staying off the streets for the past few weeks under doctor's orders."

Shizuo loosened his grip and backed up, "Doctor's orders? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you telling me you're sick?"

The informant shrugged, answering honestly, "Well, I'm not exactly sure. I've been feeling really messed up lately. My back's been hurting, constant migraines, and the fact that every single fucking time I wake up in the morning, I throw up everything in my stomach which is usually nothing. So putting the pieces together, I'd say I'm pretty damn sick, Shizu-chan."

Grey orbs stared into red, scavenging for any hint of lying, but found none, "Well, what did Shinra say?"

Taken slightly aback at the sudden concern, Izaya sighed and shook his head, "You don't wanna know."

Shizuo followed Izaya's movements with his eyes as the brunette went back over and laid back down on the couch. Gazing at the relaxed informant, laying on his back and rubbing his temple.

"I'm telling you, these migraines never go away. I've had the same one for a good few weeks now." He fussed.

It was then that the blonde noticed something rather unusual. There was an unusual slight raise in Izaya's abdomen that disturbed him a bit. And the strip of skin that was exposed looked a tad swollen. It was hard to see under the black long sleeve shirt Izaya was wearing, but Shizuo was positive it was there.

"Izaya." He said in a more serious tone, "What did Shinra say to you? I would like to know. Even if you don't, Celty will tell me anyway."

The brunette sat up so he was lying on his elbows, "God, what is this sudden concern you have for me, Shizu-chan? I didn't know you cared this much."

"I don't!" the bodyguard hissed, "I just wanna get rid of some suspicions." He glanced at the flea's stomach again.

Collapsing on his back again, Izaya let out a long sigh, "Well before I say anything, let me tell you that I think this is total bullshit."

Shizuo stared into the demonic irises of Izaya's, intent on hearing every word clearly.

"They…they think I'm pregnant."

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So I hope this turns out good! Let me know what you think! Bye!_

_Pepsi: __**REVIEW TO SEE SHIZUO'S REACTION!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you all enjoy it! Sorry for the wait. Yesterday was my birthday. It was good. :D_

_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._

_Me: I do not.

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Unusual Absence

"I'm sorry… what?" The blond demanded it be repeated.

Izaya sighed hopelessly. He sat up and swung his legs over to face Shizuo, "According to Shinra and Celty… I'm pregnant." The informant said with a completely straight face.

Onyx eyes widened to the point of it becoming painful, "WHAT?"

"Now now, let me explain before you get all riled up, okay? I think they are wrong as hell. I mean, c'mon, it's Shinra. I'm sure he's just off his meds or something. Don't tell me you believe this for even a second."

"Izaya…"

This time it was ruby eyes that widened, "What the fuck? Are you kidding me? Do you seriously believe that crazy doc? He's blown his top! Last time I checked, which wasn't too long ago, I am a guy. Guys don't get pregnant!"

Right as the bodyguard was about to say something in protest, he saw Izaya getting a little green in the face, "Hey, are you okay?"

Grabbing onto the couch arm, he nodded, "Yeah… yeah I'm fine. I'm just getting sick again. Excuse me for just a moment."

Shizuo watched absolutely astonished at the sight of the flea in such a fragile and weak state, as he walked slowly and wearily across the room.

Izaya stumbled into the bathroom and got over the toilet barely in time to begin throwing up everything currently in his system, which wasn't much. The only thing he had so far that day was an egg. But somehow, he was vomiting more than that. It had lasted for hardly a minute when it finally ceased. The recently familiar acidic taste lingered in his mouth, ruining whatever was left of his appetite for the rest of the day. He straightened back up and after wiping his mouth, he turned the knob to turn the shower on.

Finally, the blond saw the informant return, with more natural color in his face, and was dabbing all over his face with a damp towel, "Okay. I apologize for that. That's sort of become a daily routine for me."

All murderous intent gone from Shizuo's mind, he grabbed the brunette's elbow and began dragging him out the door, "Come with me, flea. We are going to see Shinra."

"What? Why?" The informant whined in a childish fashion.

"Because it's obvious that you're still sick and I know goddamn well I am getting no sleep until all of this mess is sorted out."

* * *

It was a somewhat peaceful day for Shinra. Celty was out riding and he was home alone. All nice and quiet. Until his door was abruptly kicked down by a certain blond.

"Shinra."

"Shizuo, this is a nice surprise." The doctor took notice of the brunette flung over Shizuo's shoulder, and suddenly decided he was more important, "Izaya! What in the world? What did Celty and I say?"

"Don't get into any fights with Shizu-chan. _I know_." came the muffled response, "But we weren't fighting per se." he raised his head so his voice could be clearer, "And for the record, if anyone even really cares, I was brought here strictly against my will."

Shinra sighed in slight frustration at the lethal pair, "Okay, so what _did_ happen?"

Still flung over the bodyguard's shoulder, Izaya cracked his knuckles, "Well, to make a long story short, let's just say Shizu-chan didn't take the 'news' too well."

The brunette yelped as he soon came in contact with the floor as he was unexpectedly dropped by Shizuo, "You said you didn't believe a word of it!" he roared at Izaya, who groaned and remained motionless on the floor.

"Shizuo!" Shinra scolded harshly, "You cannot treat Izaya so carelessly in his condition! It's highly dangerous!"

"Condition?" Shizuo repeated, "You mean the whole 'pregnant' thing? Look, doc, I know Izaya is weird and possibly from another planet, but the laws of nature shall forever state that _men cannot bear children_. So please stop telling Izaya that he is."

The scientist helped the now fully coherent Izaya onto the couch, "Well, I kinda broke that law recently." He said rather sheepishly.

"_Kinda_ broke it?" the informant spoke slowly so he didn't misunderstand. He grabbed onto his long time friend's lab coat, "What the hell did you do to me, Shinra?"

Shinra quickly pried the clinging hands off of him, "When you were brought in by Simon, drunk off your ass, roughly 4 or 5 months ago, I was supposed to inject you with something to speed up the sobering process, but instead I kinda… picked up the wrong syringe. The one I injected into your bloodstream was a prototype in stimulating male ovulation, thus causing the chance of pregnancy in a male to occur if such chances arise." He gave a goofy grin, "I didn't think it would actually work when I found out."

Izaya nodded seeming to understand, "I see, well if that's the case…" he suddenly turned very sinister, "I don't think I actually expected to have a growing _thing _inside of me. There has to be a way to reverse it."

"Well… you mean abort it?"

"Reverse it, get rid of it, I don't care! I'm far too busy with my own life to have to deal with caring for another's. I don't want it." The brunette spoke carelessly as if they were discussing something pointless at the dinner table.

Shizuo then jumped into the conversation, "Hold on. We gotta think about this first."

Izaya wagged his finger, "Oh no, you don't get a say in this. You don't have a mutant inside you."

"Actually, Izaya, since Shizuo _is _the father, he gets a say in the matter also." The scientist threw in a little bit of important information.

"Fuck." The informant mumbled as he fell back on the couch, "I don't like this at all. Can I go home?"

"No." Shizuo snapped, "We have to discuss this now."

The brunette rolled his eyes and scoffed, "I still don't believe a word of this. Because I'll be damned if I believe that a little drunken one night stand between me and Shizu-chan and the off chance of being injected with something that may not even work, will cause me to have a kid. Sorry, I'm not buying it."

The ex-bartender shook his head, "Goddamnit flea, just sit down."

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." Izaya muttered.

"So," Shizuo directed his attention to Shinra, "Say Izaya is pregnant, how far along would he be?"

The bespectacled man hesitated, "If I had to guess, I'd say 17 weeks at the latest."

Izaya stood up, "Okay, y'know what? I'm not listening to any more of this."

As the informant began trudging out of the apartment, Shizuo started after him, "Izaya, wait!"

Catching him on the stairs, the blond pinned the other against the cold cemented walls, "Listen you little louse, I am not enjoying this any more than you are. But you have to face reality. Look at yourself! You are getting sick every morning, back pains, you have clearly gained weight—wake up and smell the damn coffee, you are pregnant, so _deal with it_."

Izaya's eyes narrowed, "You'd think it was that easy wouldn't you?"

"Huh?"

"I don't think you quite fully understand, my dear. Unlike you, I have a solid job that pays a lot, and I happen to enjoy said job. Getting the dirtiest of information before it even makes it off the person's lips is what I live for. It's what I'm best at. I have plans for the rest of my life. If there are any kids in my future, I sure as hell will not be the one carrying them. I don't even want kids right now. I have two demonic twin sisters to squelch any longing for a child of my own. Sure, I may be pregnant. But I guarantee you, by this time next week, I won't be."

Anger and fury was building in Shizuo. He wrapped one of his strong hands around the red eyed man's throat and formed a fist with the other. In one swift movement, he brought that fist towards his face, only to smash into wall, mere centimeters away from his ear. That crater had to have been a good 3 inches deep.

Izaya's eyes were the size of saucers. Shizuo could hear his quick breathing as he leaned in close, "You do what I think you're gonna do, and I will not hesitate to brutally slaughter you. Do you understand?"

Without even waiting for an answer, he released his grip on the smaller man and proceeded out of apartment.

_

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Woo intense chapter. No, of course Izaya won't really get an abortion. Shizuo obviously will not let him. Hope you liked it!_


	3. Chapter 3

_I've got another chapter for ya! I hope you enjoy! It might be a bit short though._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara or its characters._

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Unusual Absence

_This was stupid._

Izaya thought to himself as he sat there in the bathroom of his apartment, a little white stick in his hand. He stole it from Namie's purse when she was busy with paperwork.

He sighed with impatience and looked at the clock. _5 minutes sure was taking its goddamn time…_

"This is ridiculous." The informant said out loud, "Why the hell am I doing this anyway? There is no way I could be pregnant. It's downright impossible."

The raven heard a beeping noise and took a deep breath. _Okay, if I'm not pregnant, it should have a minus sign on it. If it's a plus... no I'm not gonna think about that. It should be a minus. _

He shut his eyes tightly and said a quick prayer. After that he opened them and looked at the stick. It was then, that his heart stopped.

_A plus…_

"No…" Izaya whispered, the pregnancy test falling from his trembling hands, "No no no no no, oh my God please no." His head fell into his hands, "This can't be happening. Not to me. Please, not now."

The informant could feel tears prickling his eyes and making their way down his cheeks.

Izaya sniffled and let his hands fall to his sides as he looked up to the ceiling, trying his best to keep tears from falling, "Oh my god. This is really happening." He picked the white stick up off the floor and threw it into the trash.

He sighed and wiped away the leftover tears on his face. He dug down in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. After dialing a certain number he put the phone up to his ear and listened to it ring a few times.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey."

"_Who the fuck is this?"_

The raven chuckled inwardly, "It's me, Shizu-chan."

"_Izaya? Why are you calling me? I'm with Tom at the moment, you know 'working'?"_

"Well after you almost smashed my face in yesterday at Shinra's place, I got to thinking. So I took a pregnancy test." The distressed informant put his hand on his aching forehead.

"_Really? And?"_

"I hope you are damn proud of yourself. It was positive." Izaya tried to not start crying. _Not in a million years would he see me in a weak state._

"_It was? Now Izaya, you know this is serious…"_

"Yeah I know it is. I'm fucking pregnant and it's your fault. This is going to ruin me you know that? My reputation is going to be smashed the minute people find out. Being an informant works both ways. People will know this by tomorrow."

"_Then don't tell anybody. It's that easy."_

"No it's not! Don't you get it, Shizu-chan? People can take a hint! Orihara Izaya doesn't take vacations! They will know something is up. They will start guessing. And that is when rumors start."

"_Are you going to get rid of it?"_ His voice was extremely stern.

The raven haired man took a deep breath and stayed silent as he thought, "No." his voice came out sounding numb, "I'm not getting rid of it."

"_So what are you going to do?"_

"How the fuck would I know? I'm still in shock from finding out. It doesn't help that I'm already showing."

"_Well Shinra estimated that you were probably 17 weeks. That's 3 ½ months right there."_

"Okay I can't do this on the phone, Shizu-chan. Can you come over here and talk?"

There was a pause on the other line _"Alright fine. Tom said we were done for the day so I'll come straight over."_

"Bye." Izaya pressed the end button on the cell phone and let it fall from his hands onto the floor. The poor raven collapsed onto the couch and curled up, just wanting to die or disappear for a long time.

He took a deep breath and shuddered as he let it back out. Oh how grateful he was that no one was around to see him like this.

* * *

Shutting his cell phone and pocketing it, Shizuo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. The reality of this situation was almost too much to handle. The blonde began walking slowly through the crowded streets.

After finally making it to the apartment Izaya stayed at, he checked his watch to see that roughly half an hour had passed. He saw the 'No Smoking' sign and grumbled to himself, putting out the half-smoked cigarette in the trash can nearby.

He opted for the stairs since he didn't feel like standing in an elevator for five minutes just to go to the 3rd floor. Knocking quietly on the door marked 'Orihara', he let himself in after waiting a few seconds with no answer.

Taking light steps on the pure white carpet, Shizuo instantly took notice of the curled up raven on the couch.

"Izaya?"

Slowly and lazily, the informant sat up and faced the bodyguard. Shizuo flinched the moment he saw the bloodshot eyes that contrasted highly with the pale skin and dark clothing.

The blonde was wary in taking a seat beside him and just as he was about to say something, Izaya sprung forward and wrapped his arms around Shizuo's neck. Burying his face in the taller man's shoulder, he mumbled something that was incoherent.

"Hm?"

A sniffle came from the raven and lifted his head to speak clearly, "What am I going to do?"

Having the flea clinging to him like this was getting a bit awkward. Shizuo mentally shrugged and chalked it up as Izaya's emotions being in too much distress for him to handle, "Can't say I know. I kinda hoped you weren't gonna be pregnant."

"I'm not fit to be a mother."

Shizuo chuckled lightly, hoping to brighten the mood, "That I have to agree with."

Bloodshot eyes gave a deathly glare as he broke away from the blonde. Izaya tangled his hand in his hair and sighed, "This is all so frustrating. I mean, am I supposed to like marry you now?"

Rolling his eyes, Shizuo shook his head, "No. I wouldn't even suggest it if the situation _did _call for it."

"If there is anything I'm sure of at this moment, it'd be this…" Izaya spoke looking up at the ceiling, he flicked open his trusty switchblade, "Heiwajima Shizuo, I promise you one thing. For these next 6 months, I swear on my mother's grave, I _will_ make your life a living hell. I'm in a position where I can torture you in whole new ways. You better believe I am jumping at this opportunity."

Shizuo made a move as if to protest but the informant beat him to it, "Don't even try to say no. You got me into this mess. Don't blame it on Shinra, either. If you hadn't fucked me senseless when I was intoxicated and not to mention vulnerable, that impregnation shot would have had no effect on me. So technically, it all boils down to being your fault. You made me this way, so prepare for the storm. Though I lost in the end, I'm going to address a little retribution."

The bodyguard scoffed, "_You_ are gonna make _my_ life a living hell? I hate to break it to you, princess, but your life is gonna be a living hell."

"How?"

Smirking, Shizuo raised his eyebrows with satisfaction, "You'll see. You think morning sickness and back pains are bad? That's just the beginning. I remember the way my mother was with my little brother. It's just gonna continue going downhill from here."

Izaya frowned and shooed Shizuo to the door, "Well I think you should leave now. But I guess I should mention one last thing that you can think long and hard about."

"And what would that be?" The other man asked with curiosity evident in his voice.

The frown turned into a devious smirk, "Twins run in my family."

And with that, the door was slammed in Heiwajima Shizuo's face.

_

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Oh my god, I thought this would never get done. But be that as it may, it is a decent size and I'm pretty happy with it. Hope you liked it!_

_**Pepsi: REVIEW TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!**_

_Me: And of course, because you love me. And you know you want me to continue this._

_Bye! I love you all!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello again! I was listening to a song and got inspired by the lyrics so I can't wait to have you read what I wrote! Sorry it took a while to update. But you obviously don't wanna hear about my personal life so let's just enjoy, shall we?_

_Izaya: Cookie does not own Durarara! or its characters._

_Me: Blah blah blah I know we all hate it but I don't wanna get sued._

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Unusual Absence

Izaya turned around after slamming the door in Shizuo's face and slid down to the floor with a sigh. He put a hand to his forehead, feeling the warmth emanating from either his head or his hand—he couldn't tell which one. Another wave of nausea hit like a ton of bricks making Izaya groan as he pulled himself up and fast-walked to the bathroom. He didn't mind that he forgot to lock the door of the bathroom as he made it to the toilet.

He almost felt sorry for the porcelain bowl, taking all the abuse and disgusting things that were a result of a mistake Shizuo made. He leaned over and felt his stomach lurch as more bile came up. Izaya began to wonder how long it was going to take before he threw up his entire stomach. His ears deafened by the sound of himself retching, Izaya didn't even hear the door of the apartment click open as a little figure cautiously walked in.

* * *

Mairu peeked inside the apartment and heard faint sounds she couldn't distinguish. With a flip of her braids, she turned to face her sister, "Stay here Kururi, understand? I'm going to go see if Iza-nii is home."

The other garnet-eyed girl nodded in silence and Mairu gave her a kiss on the cheek, "I'll be right back, so don't move!"

She stepped gingerly into the surprisingly well-kept apartment. As she ventured further into the apartment, she could tell that the sounds she heard earlier, were of someone throwing up.

"Iza-nii?"

Once Mairu came to the conclusion that the retching was coming from the bathroom, where the door was slightly ajar, she peeked inside to see Izaya was the one making the noises. On impulse, she forgot about her twin sister waiting outside and rushed in to console her brother. She kneeled down beside him and placed her hand on his back, rubbing soothing circles and moving a bit of his hair out of the way.

"Oh my god, Iza-nii! Are you okay?" She said with a huge amount of concern in her voice.

The older Orihara at last took notice of his younger sister's presence and forced his body to hold the rest of the sickening stuff down, to which he shuddered at the revolting taste, "Mairu?"

His shocked ruby eyes matched her worried ones. He sighed and sat back against the wall beside the toilet, breathing heavily after the ordeal. His eyes were shut tightly from his head absolutely pounding. The poor man was exhausted.

"I don't know how you girls do it, honestly. This is hell." The brunette said with his breath coming in heavy pants. He placed a rather protective hand over his aching abdomen.

Mairu wrapped an arm around her brother, "I'm sorry but I don't know what you mean. What made you so sick, Iza-nii?"

Izaya surprised himself to be honest, he never thought he'd reach out to his_ sisters_ of all people for help. But he was so desperate. Who else was he supposed to go to who knew this kind of shit he was dealing with? Namie? Fuck no.

"Well… I'm just feeling a bit sick is all." The informant tried to explain as vaguely as possible.

Mairu gave a look of confusion and shook her head, "That doesn't answer my question. You said something about 'how do we girls do it'. So let me rephrase: what is 'it' that we do so well?"

Silently cursing himself for raising his little sisters to be so cunning, Izaya pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He slipped his hand under his shirt to feel the soft, slightly round skin covering his stomach, which had grown warm from being covered with clothing.

The brunette sighed and let out a groan, "Ugh! I just can't do this!"

"What? What is it? Iza-nii, please tell me what's wrong!"

Izaya ignored her and just started rambling in hysterics, completely unaware of what he was saying.

"I'm not built for this to happen to me! I'm not as strong when it comes to this sort of thing! I'm not like you women! My body can't handle this pressure! I can't stand being like this! **I can't handle being pregnant!**" He blurted out the last part louder than the rest.

Unsure of what else to do in order to calm him, Mairu enveloped her brother in a tight embrace. She could feel the shoulder part of her jacket get stained with tears, "It's okay Iza-nii, it's all gonna be alright. But…" she pulled away from him, "… what you said… Iza-nii… are you pregnant?"

Izaya wiped away the tears that were still falling down his cheeks and nodded, staring up at the ceiling to avoid eye contact.

Not even bothering to ask any questions at the moment, Mairu wrapped her arms around him in a loving embrace as her twin, who recently came inside after awhile, followed suit.

* * *

It had been a week since Shizuo had last seen Izaya when he was called over there. He hadn't heard a word from the flea since then and he was getting a bit worried. It seemed so unnatural to actually care for that ungrateful louse but he felt as if he had to.

While walking down the street he passed by a couple of good-for-nothing sleazebags who were gossiping about some stupid shit.

"Hey did you hear about that information broker that got hurt after handing out wrong information to someone?"

Shizuo ears perked up at the words 'information broker'. _They couldn't be talking about Izaya could they?_ He hung around in the shadows to eavesdrop on their conversation that followed.

"Naw man how long ago was that?" a hefty thug asked.

Another shrugged, "Not too long ago, I think. Around four months I think."

"Well damn, who was it?"

"I heard it was some brunette, don't recall the name though."

"Was it Orihara Izaya? He's a brunette isn't he?" one of them remarked.

"That might've been him. Who knows?"

"Do you know what happened to the guy?"

"All I know is that the poor sap got raped up the ass, abused, and was left for dead."

The others got shocked looks on their faces, "Is he still alive?"

"Not sure."

Shizuo smoked the last of his cigarette and put it out on the ground. He didn't want to hear more of the conversation because he heard enough to become pissed at a certain flea.

_That rotten little louse. Who would've guessed he doubled as a dirty whore? I knew that child couldn't have been mine. I oughta rip the bastard to shreds._

Getting angrier and angrier as he made his way to Shinjuku where Izaya stayed in his apartment, he finally made it up the stairs to his door only to find it locked. He mumbled something inaudible and pulled out another cigarette. He whipped out his lighter in a heartbeat and puffed out the first bit of smoke he inhaled as it mixed with the nicotine in his system. Sure smoking is bad for you but really, who fucking cares?

He turned on his heel and began going back down the stairwell. Almost to the bottom where the exit was, he saw Izaya with a bag of groceries on his way back up to his apartment, and was about to pass him by on the stairs.

Nearly biting the cigarette in half between his teeth, he gripped the shorter man's shirt and almost lifted him off of the ground.

"Shizu-chan? This is an interesting surprise. Why are you here?"

"How dare you lie to me like that…" Shizuo growled in response to the oblivious informant.

Izaya detached the blonde's hands from his shirt, "I have no idea what you are talking about. Care to explain?"

Shizuo absolutely saw red, "There is nothing to explain, you bastard! No… you are more than a bastard… you _whore!_"

"Whore?" Izaya repeated with interest, "That's a new one. Interesting coming from you, someone who _slept with me when I was drunk off my ass 4 months ago!"_

The bodyguard rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Oh bullshit! 4 months ago you were getting it on with some other guy who you give information to!"

Izaya sighed and set the bag of groceries on the ground, "Look, I have no earthly clue what you are talking about, but whatever it is doesn't include me. As much as you might want to believe it, I don't just whore myself out on my customers. That's not how being an information broker works. It's way more complex and less sexual." He pushed the tall blonde back a bit, "So don't be pointing accusing fingers at the innocent, ya hear?"

Blinded with rage and fury, Shizuo shoved Izaya down two flights of stairs. It wasn't until Izaya let out a cry of pain and agony that Shizuo finally snapped back to his senses and realized what he had just done.

* * *

_Is that enough to keep you guessing and worried for another month? Lol I hope it isn't another month before I update this story again. I was really busy with a play and couldn't do any writing. And I just realized that it is past 2 am so I'm gonna go to bed now!  
_

_Pepsi: **REVIEW TO SEE IF IZAYA IS OKAY!**_

___I love reviews. They feed my soul and keep me alive. Just some food for thought._

**HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE IT! **_Yeah let's all get fat. __  
_


	5. Chapter 5

_Despite the fact I am in the midst of exams, I have somehow cracked out another chapter of this. I'm pretty damn proud of myself, just saying. Hopefully this won't be too boring. I tried to make it as IC as possible. But with this kind of story, that is no easy feat._

_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._

_Me: So you can suck on that, lollipop. Enjoy the show.  
_

* * *

Unusual Absence

Shizuo sighed as he walked to Shinra's house. He was forbidden to see Izaya for three days since he was in the doctor's care. Of course Izaya didn't die from the fall when he could get up easily after being struck with a vending machine.

Now if the child had survived, that was a piece of news that never reached the blonde. He wasn't sure if it was because they didn't know or just didn't want to tell him. The thought of the child dying all because of Shizuo's recklessness was eating him from the inside out.

He flicked the cigarette butt into the nearby garbage can. Hurrying up the stairs to Shinra's floor, Shizuo wondered what all had gone on the three days he hadn't seen the flea. Reaching the door, he knocked and waited.

"Oh hello, Shizuo." Shinra said greeting him, "Come in."

The bodyguard followed the bespectacled man to a closed door. Shinra then turned to face him, "Shizuo, since I am in no position to make accusations, I will not be getting involved in what you and Izaya do with this child. I will also not relay any information to you because I feel it is better for Izaya to tell you himself. Celty will be outside the door in case things start getting out of hand." He placed a hand on the doorknob and turned it, "This is your last chance. Do not screw this up."

Nodding at the brunette's serious words, Shizuo stepped into the room that Izaya was in and bit his lip when the door clicked shut behind him.

A pair of red eyes darted in his direction, "Oh, it's _you._" Izaya hissed as he refused to look at the taller man, "Has it been three days already?"

Shizuo sat with a sigh and looked Izaya over. His left arm was in a sling and his head was bandaged up, "Look, Izaya, you need to know my side of the story before you accuse me of anything."

A numb chuckle sounded from the injured brunette, "That's funny, Shizu-chan. That's _damned_ funny. I shouldn't be accusing _you_ of anything?" Izaya turned his head to look right into Shizuo's onyx eyes, "How hypocritical can you get? You were the one who was calling me a whore who slept with my customers!"

"I heard some thugs talking about an informant being raped around 4 months ago for giving faulty information! What was I supposed to think?"

Izaya rolled his eyes, "And you believed them? Do you _really_ think that I am the only informant in Japan? How many other people could that have possibly been? Plus I would never give out false information."

"Izaya…" he said reaching out a hand to grasp the other's shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" The informant spat venomously, smacking Shizuo's hand away, "I'm sure you want to know if the child is still alive."

Silence was his response and Izaya proceeded to sigh, "The devil spawn is fine—relax." He put a hand on the bump, "I think it's mad at you because I've been feeling it move a lot. It wants to kick your ass, obviously. Takes after me I suppose." He grinned as he felt a flutter against his hand that was pressed on his abdomen, as if it was agreeing.

The blonde bit his lip again, "And I have one other question."

"What is it, Shizu-chan?"

"Did Shinra look to see if there were…" he scratched the back of his head uncomfortably, "you know… more than one?"

Izaya giggled at the look of worry and anxiety on the usually stoic bodyguard's face, "Before I answer, I want to mention a couple things. I discussed the subject with my twin sisters. They said that according to my family line, each part of the Orihara family have a 65% chance of twins each time they conceive."

Shizuo gulped, feeling more uneasy than he was just five minutes ago.

"You got lucky, Shizu-chan. It's just one fetus according to Shinra." The informant said rather reassuringly, "I didn't want twins either, _believe me._"

Giving a sigh of relief, Shizuo nodded, "Seeing how your sisters are, I wouldn't blame you."

Izaya looked out the window, "Well, with me being the 'mother' of the child, it will look more like me with my devilish good looks." He looked back over to the ex-bartender, "I'm glad that it will not have to deal with your trashy appearance."

"Trashy? How the hell am I trashy?" Shizuo barked in protest to the flea's words.

Said flea put his hand in Shizuo's hair, ruffling it, "That unruly, blonde hair of yours that you can never keep tidy is part of it. There is also the fact you cannot seem to keep clothes intact for more than a week. And most of all…" He snatched the pack of cigarettes out of Shizuo's pocket, "that absolutely _atrocious _smoking habit of yours."

Shizuo growled at his cigarettes being confiscated from him, "Give them back, Izaya."

"Why should I?" Izaya challenged the other man, "When someone is pregnant, they are not allowed to smoke, and _others are not allowed to smoke around them_. So basically you need to give up smoking for the next 6 months, Shizu-chan." He carelessly tossed the half-full pack of cigarettes over his shoulder as they went out the open window. Izaya was well aware of this as he gave a testing ruby red glare, "That won't be too hard for you, will it?"

"Fuck you." The blonde spat.

Izaya waved his finger in Shizuo's face, "No thanks, I'll pass on that offer. The last time I complied with your sexual whimsies, _this_ happened." He pointed to the protruding rise in his stomach, "I've gained 12 pounds thanks to you!"

Shizuo sighed, "Don't give me drama, louse. I hardly want to hear it from you."

"Okay then." Izaya said, getting a sarcastic smirk on his face, "I'll play this game with you. How about you try being 19 weeks pregnant for a day. The little monster inside of you is having fun doing fucking aerobics and somersaults. Try having heartburn every time you eat something! I'm getting boobs! That is not supposed to happen!"

The blonde rolled his eyes, "That is because you have to supply milk." He muttered, "This is why you should have stayed awake during Health in high school. It is normal for that to happen."

"Not for a guy like me!" The younger one fought back, "I'm glad this thing is already half over. Next time, _you_ will be drunk off your ass being on the bottom during sex and _you_ will be the one getting injected with Shinra's experiments. I demand a redo of some sort." The brunette laid back and pouted.

There was a silence between the two for a few minutes before Izaya piped up.

"By the way, Shinra said I need to stay with you in your apartment."

Shizuo looked up at the other man in shock, "You are kidding right?"

Izaya put a hand to his forehead, "Shizu-chan, think about it. If I stop showing up for work and giving my clients the dirt they want, they will start looking for me. What is the one place no one would _ever_ think of looking in a million years? Plus, someone has to take care of me. It sure as hell won't be Namie—so it's gotta be you."

"When is Shinra letting you go?"

"Today." Izaya said sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, "I'm coming home with you today." He stood up and stretched a little.

Shizuo stood with him and stared at Izaya's abdomen, stunned at just how noticeable the flea's pregnancy had become.

Izaya sighed when he noticed the pair of eyes looking at him, "Yes, I know, I am a freak show. Thanks so much for reminding me."

"Can… can I touch your stomach?" The blonde said with a huge amount of uncertainty.

"If you must." Izaya permitted with an annoyed groan.

Shizuo carefully placed his fingertips on the bump and almost immediately felt a fluttering feeling from beneath the fabric and skin.

The brunette stood there with his patience quickly wearing thin, "Okay this is getting really fucking awkward. Can we just go?"

Snapping back into reality, the bodyguard nodded and led the other one out.

Shizuo could already tell that these next 6 months would be the longest in his life.

* * *

_I'm shocked I could write all of this in one night. But I knew seeing all of your lovely reviews will keep me motivated for my second out of three exams in the morning. _

_Pepsi: **REVIEW TO SEE IZAYA PUT SHIZUO THROUGH ALL THIS CRAZY MESS!**_

_Reviews give me a reason to live, no joke. Love you guys. Bye. **  
**_


	6. Chapter 6

_MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU GUYS! Its Christmas Eve where I am and I was dying to post some sort of Christmas gift for you guys. And I have! _

**_This will contain a Shizaya lime so BE WARNED!_**

_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._

_Me: I sure as hell do not. So don't make me track you down and beat you with a stick okay?  
_

* * *

Unusual Absence

**5 months earlier**

Shizuo sat in his apartment with a bottle of wine. He just stared into his glass full of the crimson liquid. It wasn't like he was celebrating anything. Anytime he had a long day walking around all over town with Tom, he normally just came home and had something to take the edge off. It was like the reason he smoked: you have one body and are given free rein to do whatever you want while you are in it. The blonde normally just had a glass of wine or two and then headed off to bed. If it had been a _really _long day, he would break out the liquor and have a few shots. But today he was just tired.

After downing the entire glass, he left the glass on the table and put the wine bottle away. When he reentered the room, he heard the doorknob jiggling as if someone was trying to get in.

Grabbing the nearest object he could find, a small table, Shizuo waited to see if the intruder would enter. As the door handle turned and the door swung open, the person was revealed to be none other than Orihara Izaya. The blonde just about bit his cigarette in two.

"What the fuck are you doing here, you rat?" Shizuo growled, putting the table down.

The informant staggered in, nearly tripping on the threshold in doing so. He went right past Shizuo and slumped over on the couch.

"This isn't your apartment, dumbass, it's _mine_. Now get out." The bodyguard then took in a whiff of what seemed to be alcohol—lots of it, "Have you been drinking?"

Noticing for the first time, the shot glass that was in the brunette's hand, he groaned, "You are drunk off your ass, aren't you?" the blonde grabbed the glass and smelled it, "Yep, that's liquor all right. _Strong _liquor, actually. Goddamnit, flea." After holding it close to his face for a period of time, Shizuo then smelled something else, "This drink had been drugged. I wouldn't blame someone trying to drug this asshole—he deserves it. I wonder what kind of drug it is."

It was at that moment that he felt arms slither around his waist. He froze, "What the fuck?"

A chin placed itself on his shoulder, "Hey Shizu-chaaan~…"

_Oh dear god._ The blonde thought. _What the hell did someone put in Izaya's drink?_

Fingers tangled themselves into Shizuo's hair and he felt hot breath on his neck, "Shizu-chan," he slurred in his drunken state, "I'm feeling a little hot tonight. You won't leave me will you? I want someone to be with and talk to. You won't leave me will you?"

The poor ex-bartender couldn't hold back a shudder at the smaller man's words. He gasped when he felt Izaya bite down on his neck. That's when Shizuo just realized what had been slipped into the informant's drink: an **aphrodisiac. **

Izaya placed his hands lightly on the blonde's hips, who still had yet to move an inch. The poor man couldn't speak. Not when his enemy who he commonly had homicidal thoughts about was treating him like a lover.

Shizuo begun to panic. He wondered with the alcohol the flea had consumed and the aphrodisiac that had been put in it, this could end up being a very bad night. He hated to admit it, but he was actually starting to get aroused by this. He blamed the fact that Izaya's knee was rubbing him in certain places and that damn glass of wine he had.

"I'd say you are beginning to enjoy this." Izaya breathed heavily, turning the blonde around and pressing his lips hungrily against the other's, not waiting for an answer he already knew.

Mentally deciding to play along for the time being, no matter how disgusting it may seem, Shizuo began to return the needy kiss. Izaya wrapped his arms around the taller man as he proceeded to deepen the kiss by slipping his tongue into the other's mouth. Even though he was drunk and drugged, Izaya made a mental note that Shizuo was an _impressive_ kisser and that his mouth and tongue tasted of nicotine and red wine. And as those two tastes mixed together with the hard liquor that the brunette had consumed, he lost almost all his sanity as he continued to play tag with the blonde's tongue.

Izaya began to slip his hands up the other man's shirt and then started to bring them back down slowly. As they fell back on the couch, Izaya straddled Shizuo as he pulled his shirt up over his head and discarded it with his jacket.

He flicked out his pocketknife and ripped the bartender outfit right down the middle, exposing the bodyguard's muscles in their entirety.

"Hnnn~ My body is _burning_, Shizu-chan." He purred seductively, as he leaned down to press his bare chest with the blonde's. He gave light kisses to Shizuo's chest and abs while one of his hands was gripping the collar of the tattered white dress shirt, "Make me feel better, won't you?" His other free hand was massaging Shizuo's crotch through his pants, which were becoming tighter by the second.

Shizuo groaned, knowing that he was probably going to regret this later, but fuck it. He had a hard on and it was all the nasty flea's fault. Izaya was drunk and he was gonna use the excuse that he was too. If the man wanted to be fucked then he would get fucked. So naturally, it would be the flea who would pay the _**ultimate price**_**.

* * *

**

_If only they knew. I hope you guys didn't think that was too short! Hopefully it was good and you are pleasantly satiated! I wish all of you Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! This was basically what had happened between the two of them that created the "monster" as Izaya calls it. _

**_Pepsi: REVIEW TO SEE MORE! _**

_Me: Reviews help me to live. Just wanted to let you know. **I stayed up **_**_until 3 am typing this so don't say I never spoil you guys! :D Bye!  
_**


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello again everyone. Sorry its taken a while for me to get a chapter up. I actually had a really good idea come to me a couple of weeks ago but never got around to typing it out. This thing has been sitting on my laptop half-finished for like 3 days now. But I digress..._

_**Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters.**_

_Me: And who all wants a season 2 of DRRR? *hands raise* Thats what I thought..._

**WARNING: Chapter contains religious references that may offend some readers.**_  
_

* * *

Unusual Absence

Izaya grunted a little as he tried to get used to the compression shirt he was wearing. Black was slimming, yes, but it wasn't slimming enough to hide his curves. It didn't do much, but it sure as hell helped in terms of looking 20 pounds lighter. There was no way he was going to take the chances of someone getting wrong idea. He's been cooped up in Shizuo's musty apartment for the past 2 weeks and it's been driving him _insane_. But, his nausea was all gone and Izaya had felt as if he was his old self again, even though he definitely wasn't. So he was making some calls with some old clients. Right now, he was patiently waiting in the elevator to get to the desired floor.

The brunet adjusted his compression shirt and then his regular V-neck shirt. He also buttoned a couple of the buttons on his fur-lined jacket just in case. If there was anything he knew about the informant business, it was that everyone is _very_ observant. You have to be on your guard at all times. At last, the elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal his boss, Shiki's office.

"Ah, Orihara Izaya." The man greeted his subordinate, "It's been a while since I have seen you. I've gotten quite a few unhappy calls from your clients."

Izaya shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Yeah I know, boss. I've not been feeling like myself lately. But today I was feeling a lot better, so I decided to make up for lost time."

Shiki smiled approvingly, "Glad to hear it. You're one of the best informants I've got. And I don't recall you ever calling in sick before."

"Well I suppose I just got a bug that was going around." Said informant lied to his superior.

"And we will make sure that doesn't happen again, won't we?" The older man said, lacing his fingers together.

Izaya nodded, "Yes sir."

Shiki pulled out a cigarette and lighted it within seconds, soon puffing out a cloud of the poisonous smoke. Izaya tensed the second he clicked that lighter. This wasn't good. His mindset became focused on the small being that had been squirming due to the restricted space it had. He bit his lip in annoyance.

_What the hell was the brat doing? Practicing his vault jumps or something? _

A voice shook him from his thoughts as he was brought back to reality, "I'm sorry, what?" he said.

Shiki took another swig from his cigarette, "Are you sure you're okay, Orihara? You got a stomachache or something?"

It was then that Izaya realized that he had his hand resting on his abdomen for God knows how long.

"It's nothing, sir." He said, masking his panic well.

"Well I'm glad you are feeling somewhat better so that you can continue working. I expect a lot from you, Izaya." Shiki said with another puff of smoke.

Nodding and trying not to breathe in the deathly smog, Izaya hurriedly went back into the elevator.

Once he was in there alone, he let out a deep breath and lifted the compression shirt. He put a hand over his round midsection

"Would you cut it out? Stop practicing for the Olympics, you little shit. I'm trying to do some work." He knew he probably would have looked like a complete lunatic to anyone else, but who the hell cares? If the monster was gonna piss him off then he needed to be scolded.

The next place he was headed was one of the nearby chapels. He liked to check up on the religious side of the world every now and then. Walking in to the one down the street, he was just in time for a service to begin.

Taking a seat and preparing for a snooze fest, he then noticed quite the interesting human sitting about 5 seats away from him. A young teenage girl—about 17 years old—was clutching a newborn baby tightly to her chest as if it was her life. She had long, tangled brunette locks, and she wore black stretch pants with a black hoodie.

As the sermon continued, Izaya couldn't help but glance over at the girl continuously. It almost seemed too correlated to be real. But she was sitting there, listening to every word the man was saying intently. Humans fascinated the brunet, but this one in particular was mind-boggling. And the small infant in her arms slept soundly like there was nothing in the world that could wake it up.

When the pastor was done preaching, he called for music to play as people could come up to the alter and pray.

Everybody stayed silent as soft music was played on the organ. Izaya practically fell asleep until he noticed the teenage mother get up slowly with her child tight in her embrace. She made her way gradually up to the alter and sat on the steps, hunched over her baby. The informant's blood ran cold when he saw tears fall from her youthful face. He just sat there and stared as the teen kneeled above her child with her eyes shut tightly, tears flowing freely down her face.

Unable to handle it anymore, Izaya got out of the chapel as fast as he could. He didn't know what he had just experienced, but it was something that even he himself couldn't figure out. The image of the teenager praying over the small infant remained burned in his head.

* * *

Shizuo sat with Celty in the park. He felt like he was having a fucking midlife crisis. He had to talk to someone.

"Celty… what am I supposed to do about this?"

Thinking for a moment, the dullahan clacked on her PDA, _[I'm not sure, Shizuo. We dullahans don't really deal with those sorts of problems.]_

The blond read the text and proceeded to groan and put his head in his hands, "I hate this."

_[Have you two made any preparations for the child?]_ Celty typed out.

The bodyguard scoffed, "Are you kidding me? Of course not. We haven't discussed names or anything. But I guess you need to know the sex of the kid for that right?"

The dullahan's sudden movements signified that she had remembered something. The text showed that she had.

_[Oh that reminds me, Shinra wants you and Izaya to come see him later today to find that out. Izaya is 21 weeks now, which is over halfway.]_

"Over halfway? But it's only been like a month since this whole thing started!"

_[Actually, Izaya conceived 5 months ago. You two just didn't find out until he was nearly 4 months along.]_

Shizuo rolled his eyes, "Okay, in my defense, that mangy flea hid himself away for those 4 months in goddamn _denial_."

Celty mentally sighed and typed out one last message, _[Just make sure that you and Izaya are at Shinra's before this evening.]_

Nodding, Shizuo got up and went off to track down one particular louse.

* * *

A few hours later, Shizuo got home after looking for a certain brunet. The search came up empty. The strong man looked at his watch—it was nearly 5 o' clock. He groaned and made his way into his bedroom where he found a giant lump in the sheets.

"Izayaaaaa…" the blond growled as he finally found the man he had searched all over Ikebukuro for.

Throwing off the covers to reveal the sleeping informant—who had no shirt on—Shizuo quickly noticed that fact and flushed. Swiftly turning and facing the other way, he kicked the bed multiple times until the flea had woken up.

Having just been disrupted from his peaceful slumber, Izaya sat up with a huff to glare at the person responsible, "Shizu-chan, why the hell did y-"

"Put a shirt on."

A short silence.

"Excuse me, what?" the brunet sat there, his mouth agape.

A grumble rose in the taller man's throat, "Goddamnit flea, I said 'put a fucking shirt on'!"

Another minute silence, "Oh." Izaya looked down and saw that he was indeed shirtless, with that godforsaken bulge showing.

He grabbed for his black long-sleeved V-neck and saw the compression shirt lying beside it. Mentally debating in his head, he decided to leave it there.

"The monster is moving around a lot more." Izaya mentioned, slipping his shirt over his head.

"Really."

"And it's fucking annoying too. Little shit makes my back hurt and everything."

"Izaya."

"Huh?" The brunet stopped while in the middle of putting his fur-lined jacket on.

A sigh emitted from the other man's lips, "We need to get serious about this."

"What do you mean?"

Shizuo grabbed Izaya's shoulder and gripped it tightly, "I mean we need to stop screwing around and figure out what the hell we are going to do."

Izaya winced a bit at the man's vice grip, "I don't really feel like talking about it now. Or ever."

Placing his free hand on the the informant's other shoulder, Shizuo forced Izaya to sit down on the bed.

"Look here, flea. According to Celty, you are 21 weeks which means we need to start getting stuff ready." The blond spoke in a deathly serious tone, "We need to decide on a name for the kid—which means you need to stop calling it 'monster' and other things. We need to get childcare supplies. And most importantly, we need to find out that thing's gender."

A few seconds passed before Izaya responded, "Do you really think I'm that stupid that I haven't been thinking about that? Of course I have. In fact, I recall Shinra wants us to meet him pretty soon. I've already decided on what names I would want. I can't tell the sex of it though. It's too flexible to be a boy but girls do _not _kick that hard. I want it to be a boy though. That way I can teach him how to be drop dead gorgeous like me."

Shizuo rolled his eyes at the brunet's narcissism, "And what would you want to name it if it were a boy, since I apparently don't get to choose."

Izaya giggled a little, "You'll get to choose the middle name—don't you worry your empty little head."

He stood up and motioned toward the door, "We need to go see Shinra, c'mon."

"Wait." Shizuo said, making the informant stop, "You never said what name you wanted for a boy."

Izaya had his hand on the doorknob when he took a long pause.

"Matteiru."

* * *

_God, that ending was sappy wasn't it? But I had like 1100 words typed out on this originally but felt it was way too short and I really wanted to add more. That is why it sat on my computer forever and ever. _

_***Matteiru means "waiting" in Japanese.**_

___Pepsi: **REVIEW TO FIND OUT THE SEX OF THE CHILD!**_

___Me: And to keep me alive. Because you know... without these I'd probably be dead right now... no I'm serious._

___Love you all! Bye! And to people reading Mating Season, I am SO SORRY! I am working on the bonus chapter we have planned and then I'm DONE.  
_


	8. Chapter 8

_ Sorry for the wait you guys! I have had such a hectic last few weeks and haven't been able to type much. Plus my laptop has had to get wiped twice in the past month. It sucks so much. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it! I work really hard trying to keep this in character!_

_**Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters.**_

_Me: And you can take that to the bank._

* * *

Unusual Absence

As the unusual couple walked side by side down the busy streets of Ikebukuro, it was not difficult to catch the odd glances that were being sent their way. Izaya soon began to highly regret leaving his compression shirt back at the house. He made a mental note not to make that mistake again, for he didn't like having to hear the whispers going on between the people nearby. How he longed to wear a mask or shut himself away for a good long time. Just as long as no one had the privilege to see him like this. In a weak state, which he loathed to no end.

"They're staring at us." Shizuo muttered under his breath to the shorter man.

Izaya cursed the high amount of naïveté the blond possessed.

"No shit, Sherlock." He said in a highly sarcastic tone, "But I think they are too busy snickering about my stomach than the fact we are walking side by side without trying to murder one another."

"Stop being a drama queen, louse. You aren't to the point of it becoming noticeable."

Knowing that bickering like an old married couple would get them absolutely nowhere, Izaya kept the rest of his crude comments to himself and keep walking in silence.

* * *

When they got to Shinra's house at last, both Shizuo and Izaya were told by Celty to sit in the living room and wait for Shinra. The two nodded in understanding and did what was instructed of them.

Soon enough, the bespectacled doctor came waltzing in from another room to greet his two childhood friends.

"Shizuo~! Izaya~! I'm so glad you could make it."

With a big grin on his face, he began to lead Shizuo and Izaya into one of the back rooms.

Izaya followed hesitantly, knowing the scientist could sometimes not be reliable. Shizuo remained close behind, his hands balling up into fists and then relaxing again.

"You can sit here." Shinra motioned to the slanted chair that was in the center of the room, right next to a machine.

The brunet did as he was told and laid down on the almost bed-like chair. Shizuo chose to stand beside him, placing a hand on one of the armrests.

"Is this gonna be painful?" He asked, eyeing the machine warily.

Shinra giggled, "Relax, Shizuo. It's not going to hurt. My goodness, such concern for Izaya I see." A suggestive smile was plastered on his face.

A large clanking noise was made, as one of the armrests from the chair Izaya was lying on was snapped in half like a twig.

"Shut. The fuck. Up." The bodyguard said with a feral growl rising in his throat.

The doctor waved his hands apologetically, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry." He then turned to Izaya, "Could you pull up your shirt please?"

A mischievous smirk appeared on the informant's face, "Well… I suppose if you want it that bad, Shinra." He said with a playful wink, "I'm not in the best shape I'm afraid, but if you insist. I promise you that, underneath all this fat, I still have that _smoking_ _hot_ six pack I had in high school."

Shizuo rolled his eyes and wanted to bang his head on the wall. Sometimes he forgot how incredibly vain Izaya was.

After Izaya rolled his shirt up, Shinra squirted some water-based gel onto his semi-swollen abdomen.

"Goddamn it, Shinra, that's cold as ice." Izaya hissed.

"Sorry, guess I should've warned you first."

The brunet shifted as he was lying down, "Let's just hurry this up. I have to take a piss so bad because you said I needed to have a full bladder for this."

Shinra just smiled to himself as he placed the transducer on Izaya's stomach and began moving it around.

The lethal pair just stared at the computer screen with looks of sheer bewilderment on their faces.

"What the fuck is this shit?" Shizuo said, letting his confusion be known.

The brute voice was ignored as Shinra continued maneuvering the gadget around on the sleek skin. The computer screen became clearer over time and soon enough there was a vague shape amidst everything else.

The bespectacled man was grinning from ear to ear, "Well I'll be. I am such a genius." He flashed that grin to blond and brunet who still were a bit puzzled and then pointed to the screen, "That little figure right there is your child."

Izaya's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, "What? So… this really is happening?"

Shizuo, almost zombie-like, walked out without saying a single word.

He sat down in the living room where Celty was watching the news on TV. Seeing the numb look on her friend's face, she turned off the television and went over to sit beside him.

_[What's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost.]_

A sigh emitted from the blond's lips as he proceeded to put his head in his hands, "All this… all that's happening…"

_[Ah, the realization of your current situation has finally sunken in.]_

"It's not just that, Celty." He said, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, "I'm… I'm afraid."

_[Afraid? Of what?] _She clicked on the PDA giving him the best look of concern she could despite not having a head.

Shizuo inhaled the bitter yet sweet-tasting nicotine that he had missed having, "I'm afraid of the kid, and whether it'll like me or not. Since this thing is _really_ mine, what if it inherits my inhuman strength? I'd never be able to live with myself knowing that my own child would be cursed to deal with being shunned from humanity, all because of me. It'd be my luck that the kid would cling to Izaya all the time and hate me. My own son or daughter would look at me like I'm a freak of nature, just like everyone else does. I'm just a monster, and monsters are never meant to reproduce. And yet, here I am, in this predicament with the one person I want to fall off the face of the earth. Karma really enjoys kicking my sorry ass, doesn't it?"

_[Shizuo, for the amount of time I've known you, you aren't a monster. You shouldn't stress over it.]_

"I just don't want to end up being a shitty father. I mean…" he took a pause, his onyx eyes glazed over in thought, "how could I possibly be a good father when I barely even knew my own?" He put out the cigarette butt in a nearby ashtray, "But that's something I'd rather not go into."

The door down the hallway where Izaya and Shinra still were had opened. Izaya, a small grin on his face, came out into the living room silently and sat on the other side of Shizuo. Shinra came and sat beside Celty.

_[Did you find out the gender?] _The dullahan asked her housemate.

Shinra nodded, "Yep. I've already said this to Izaya so I'm going to say it again to Shizuo. Congratulations, you two are having a boy."

* * *

Izaya's eyes shot open as he sat up quickly in the pitch black. He was breaking out in a cold sweat and trying as best he could to catch his breath. _Fuck… this has been the third nightmare this month._

He swung his legs over to the side of the bed and hunched over a little bit. He placed a hand on his growing midsection as the nightmare he'd had repeated like a broken record in his mind. The informant decided it would be a most opportune time to get up and walk off whatever terrors were plaguing him. As he stood up and stretched, his eyes glanced over to the box that contained a crib that Shizuo had yet to put together. The two of them just constantly ignored it.

The brunet opened the fridge in the kitchen and looked inside for a few seconds before grabbing something and closing it again. He walked around the small apartment a few times before reentering the sole bedroom that it contained. Shizuo was now awake and sitting on the side of the bed.

"Hey. Did you have another nightmare?"

Izaya nodded at the blond's question.

Shizuo sighed, "I'm sure the little devil has found out what your worst fears are with little trouble. I don't know how he does it."

After finding out about the sex of the child roughly 4 weeks ago, Izaya's sleep had been plagued with nightmares. Shizuo never really knew what these nightmares were because Izaya refused to ever talk about them. He watched as Izaya sat down with a yogurt cup in hand. The other pale hand was draped over his abdomen.

The blond used to not be comfortable looking at Izaya. The whole reality of it was almost too overwhelming. But now that they were actually attempting to get serious about things, it had become easier to deal with. The two were still unsure of what they were going to do after it was born. Would they go back to being sworn enemies only out to kill one another? Even knowing that, despite their hatred for one another, they had a lovechild? Or would they perhaps just learn to live with each other for his sake? Shizuo and Izaya weren't exactly sure which would be better.

Izaya threw the empty yogurt cup away silently and proceeded to turn back over to go to sleep. Seeing this, the bodyguard got up and went outside onto small veranda where other doors leading to the neighboring apartments were. He spotted a cigarette butt in a nearby cigarette pail. Having not inhaled any source of nicotine for the past several weeks, he eyed it hungrily. Checking to make sure no one was looking, he picked it up and tried to light it. After a few attempts, the blond mumbled, "Shit." as he ended up burning his finger.

Chucking the cigarette butt down the way, Shizuo sighed as he looked up at the night sky, "Mangy, good-for-nothing flea."

* * *

_So that's it for now! Sorry to everyone who wanted it to be a girl. I said it to some but daughters are waaaaay too overused when it comes to mpregs. The person having multiples is used a lot also. I don't want this to be like every other mpreg you might read. _

**_Pepsi: REVIEW WITH A REASON WHY SHIZUO WOULD MAKE A GOOD FATHER!_**

**_Me: See you all next time! I love you guys!_**


	9. Chapter 9

_Hello again! This is not really a full chapter but I thought I'd give you guys something that a few of you have been wanting. A lot of people were wondering what exactly was the nightmare that frightened Izaya so much. Well, now you get to find out!_

_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._

_Me: So wrap that up and stick it under the Christmas tree._

* * *

Unusual Absence

Izaya tossed and turned in his sleep, the nightmare he had previously woken up from was now starting again from the beginning. It was the same one every night and Izaya was getting sick of it. He knew it was the exact same dream that plagued his slumber, but it always seemed as if it was happening for the first time. Izaya would be part of the background, watching everything go on. Regardless, he tried his best to clear his mind and let the soft snoring of the nearby blond lull him to sleep.

"_You no good miserable little shit!"_

_The informant was slammed up against the kitchen wall by an infuriated blond, "Is that what I am to you? When you are such a flea-ridden mutt yourself?"_

_Shizuo growled, "The only flea in this house is you! The day I squish you like a bug is the day I can die a happy man!"_

"_So you want to die?" Izaya pulled out his pocketknife, "I can definitely help you with that." He cut cleanly across the taller man's chest ripping the bartender clothing he still wore to work every day._

"_Fucking bastard!" He roared as he threw the brunet across the table, causing a loud crash. _

_While the couple was in a heated argument, two other unnoticed people sat in the hallway just around the corner, hearing every word that was yelled or taunted. The bigger one was Shizuo and Izaya's son, Matteiru, who was about 13 years old. The younger one was Shinra and Celty's daughter, Epona, who was 4 years old. _

_Matteiru kept his arms around the small girl who was frightened by all the commotion. He hated it when his parents fought. Ever since he could remember, they never got along. The only reason they live together was because of him, the mistake that should never have existed. He pulled at his chestnut brown hair in frustration. _

_The teen peeked around the corner just in time to see them at each other's throats, threatening the other's life as usual. Epona whimpered as a vase hit the floor and shattered everywhere. He gave her a reassuring look._

"_It's okay Epona, I promise."_

_She looked into his garnet orbs and nodded slowly, tears forming in her own eyes. _

_Matteiru took one more quick glance at his parents, watching as his father picked up the coffee table and smashed it on his mother's head. _

_In reaction to the noise, Epona covered her ears and started crying, making Matteiru immediately divert his attention back to calming her. But then he got an idea._

_He licked his lips in hesitation as he thought about what he was about to do. _

_Leaving Epona's side, he stood up and listening for a moment._

"_Awwwww, so Shizu-chan doesn't love me after all?" _

"_Ha! You've been nothing but a scheming motherfucker acting as a thorn in my side since the day we met! You are undoubtedly the cause of all my problems! I doubt that is at all the criteria for love."_

_Matteiru clenched his fists and, with tears prickling his eyes, acted on impulse._

_Turning and seeing his battling parents come into view, they didn't even notice he was there, they never did. _

_With no time to waste, the brunet ran in the middle of his parents and pulled them apart, "__**Stop it!"**_

_Finally, the two took notice of him._

_Shizuo was agape, "Matteiru…" _

_With his head bent low, the boy still managed to glare at the older men, "How could you?"_

_There was nothing but silence as a response, so he continued._

"_How could you two be fighting like this?" The teen said, his voice slowly rising in volume, "I know you two hate each other, and I know that I am the only reason you stay together." He got a look of rage in his eyes that showed almost an identical likeness to his father, "But, for once, could you have some __**goddamn decency **__to notice that there was a child in the house! A child that just might become afraid or scared when one person picks another person up" He proceeded to demonstrate by picking up his father, "and shove them up against the wall. A child that might also get scared if you throw a coffee table onto the other person's head! If you never acknowledge that I am in this house when you fight, at least acknowledge the goddamn child!"_

"_Matteiru, we've been like this since we met in high school." Izaya tried to explain, "It's part of our nature."_

"_That doesn't explain why you two can't at least try to get along."_

_Again the two were left speechless._

_Matteiru lifted his head and pushed the mop of brown hair out of his eyes to show his tears, "Did you two ever consider that maybe I didn't like to hear you two fight? Did it ever really occur to you that I don't want to hear my parents, who typically are supposed to love each other, call the other a monster or a demon?"_

_He turned to Shizuo, "Dad, you call Mom a demon sometimes because of his red eyes. Does that make me a demon too? Go ahead and spit it at me like you do to him."_

_The strongest man in Ikebukuro looked absolutely heartbroken, "Of course it doesn't."_

"_And Mom," he turned to the man he called his mother, "you call Dad a monster because he has inhuman strength. I suppose I'm just a monster to you too then, right?"_

_The informant bit his lip guiltily, "No of course you aren't." he said blinking back tears, silently cursing motherhood for making his emotions hard to control._

"_Well if that's the case, then I don't think it's justified for you to call each other that. It might be news to you, but every insult, every curse that is spewed, it kills me inside. It makes me wish I had died the day I was born. Almost every day I wonder, if I had never happened, if everything would be for the better." He covered his eyes, trying to hide the tears, "Parents are supposed to love each other. Can't you two at least try to care for each other? Because if you don't," he ripped off his long sleeves and lifted his forearms up to reveal scars scattered on his wrists, "you may just lose me in the process. Wouldn't that be great? Getting rid of the mistake that ruined your lives?"_

_Izaya enveloped his son in a hug, "Don't say that. You were not a mistake to us! You were just…" he fought to think of the right word, "an unexpected surprise."_

"_Bullshit."_

_Matteiru, due to all of his pent up rage and depression, snatched Izaya's pocketknife from where it laid on the kitchen counter and sliced a deep cut into his neck. All the couple could do was hold their only child close as he bled out on the floor, tears and blood combining in a salty mixture. _

Izaya shot up out of bed only to be met with sunlight. He looked at the clock and saw it read 9:30am. Upon impulse, one of his hands wrapped around his abdomen, assuring him that the little life was okay. He caught his breath as he got up and made his way into the very kitchen that he saw in his nightmare, which had Shizuo cooking in it, in place of the horrific thing that he saw before.

"Hey." Shizuo greeted, "I'm just making some eggs if you want any."

There were no words as a response but instead he felt Izaya throw his arms around the blond and buried his head into the white half-buttoned dress shirt he was wearing.

The bodyguard was taken by surprise but saw the very same look in those scarlet eyes that he saw every time the smaller man had that dream, that nightmare that made Izaya a sobbing, trembling mess in his sleep.

He did what he always did when Izaya acted this way, he pulled the brunet closer and just held him there until the other was ready to let go. But this time he heard something from Izaya that was a first for these breakdowns.

"He looks like you."

* * *

**_*Matteiru has Shizuo's original hair color and style before it was dyed blond and he has Izaya's red eyes. He also partially inhabited Shizuo's inhuman strength.  
**Epona is not based off of the horse from Legend of Zelda, it's a Celtic name that means "horse" and I thought it would be fitting since Celty rides around on a horse/motorcycle._**

_I hope you all enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing you next time! _

**_Pepsi: REVIEW TO SEE SOME HILARITY IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. _**

___But with serious stuff too! I love you all! Bye bye!_**_  
_**


	10. Chapter 10

_Took me long enough, didn't it? Yeah I know it's been over a month, but it's been SO HARD ASDFGHJKL I literally would type something and then backspace it because I hated it. It took me nearly a week to write just this much! A WHOLE FLIPPIN' WEEK! And on top of that, I've been sick for the past few days, so yeah._

**_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._**

_Me: So don't make me send GLaDOS after you with Wheatley and some deadly neurotoxin._

* * *

Unusual Absence

The sun is shining, and the sky is a deep blue. It seemed like a normal, peaceful morning at the Heiwajima residence. If only that were remotely true.

"Oh you have _got _to be kidding me…" an annoyed voice rang out in the small apartment, "You have got to be _fucking kidding me!_"

Shizuo heard the sound of angry footsteps and turned around in time to see Izaya looking utterly pissed off.

"What's the matter, flea? Stub your toe or something?" he said with little care in his tone, returning to what he previously doing.

The brunet in turn put his hands on his hips, "No! My favorite rings won't fit!"

Eyes rolled behind cobalt shades, "I thought you never took them off."

"I don't!" he grumbled, "But they were making my fingers ache last night so I took them off before I went to bed. And now they won't fit back on!"

"Put them on one of your smaller fingers."

"No."

Turning back around again, the blond grabbed ahold of Izaya's fragile wrist, inspecting the 5 digits, "Your fingers have swollen. Shinra said that's a common side effect."

The informant huffed as he crossed his arms against his chest, "Side effects can go to hell. I've never heard anything about women having their fingers swell. Usually it's all about them having weird cravings or something else really stupid."

"Maybe they aren't all the same, how the hell should I know?" Shizuo growled in frustration, "I don't know anything about this dumb pregnancy shit."

"Well what am I supposed to do with my rings?" Izaya said, unhappy the topic had been changed from what seemed more important.

Shizuo dismissed the brunet with a wave of his hand, "Eat them, throw them in a lake, put them on eBay—does it really look like I give a damn?"

Throwing his arms in the air, Izaya gave up and left the room. Shizuo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he heard the bedroom door slam, "Greedy little rat…"

Izaya shut the door behind him, making sure it was as loud as possible.

He sat on the bed with a grunt and rested his head on his hand, the other wrapped around his stomach. He bit his lip and squeezed his garnet eyes shut, feeling a familiar wetness forming in them. What this kid was doing to his emotions was enough to make Izaya want to scream in frustration. He's cried more these past several months than he has in his entire life. He couldn't even remember the last time he shed a tear before this whole sandstorm blew into his life.

A sudden thump against his hand startled Izaya out of his thoughts. He looked down at his growing abdomen in shock as he cautiously touched his stomach again. After waiting a few more seconds, another thump was felt, making the brunet jerk away his arm almost immediately as if it had just bit him.

"_Izaya! I need to take care of some work-related stuff with Tom. I'll be back by midnight."_ The blond's voice was heard from inside the dark bedroom.

"Yeah, okay, bye." Izaya replied loud enough for the other man to hear.

Taking a deep breath, the informant got up and glanced once more at the crib still sitting in the box that it came in. A feeling deep down told him that it would never get put together. As he passed the dresser, he saw the ultrasound picture Shinra insisted to give them. The couple was very reluctant about it, so much that Shinra said he would pay them to take it if they had to.

His train of thought was interrupted by a pain in his lower side. He gritted his teeth as he winced from the throbbing.

"That was my kidney you just kicked." He said, talking to his stomach even though he figured it couldn't hear him, "Try aiming it near a vestigial organ next time rather than one that I need to live."

Once Izaya made it into the kitchen, he reached into the fridge and pulled out some ootoro. He made Shizuo buy it in bulk since that's all he ever felt like eating. Not that he really complained since he loved eating the sushi anyway. And the bonus was he didn't have to go out in public to get some at Russian Sushi.

He glanced out the window and tried to remember the last time he had gotten to take a leisurely stroll out in the crowded urban streets. It was something he was so used to doing originally, but now if he walked out there, who knows what would happen?

As the fatty tuna melted in his mouth, the brunet started to feel a slight pounding in his head. At first it seemed very minor, and he wasn't bothered by it thanks to the apartment being so quiet. But within the next few minutes, he could feel the pain increasing little by little.

Getting up from the couch with a little bit of effort, he walked casually to the bathroom and popped a few pain pills to ease the pain. It definitely seemed to help at first. He could already feel the migraine dissipating as he sat back down to finish his food. The rest of his time eating was spent in silence, but that changed when he had finished cleaning up. As he turned away from the sink, he could see little black dots dancing in his vision, and he began to feel faint.

Fumbling for his phone, he hit Shinra's speed dial and waited impatiently for the scientist to pick up.

"_Hello?"_

"Shinra, it's Izaya." The informant said, his vision becoming a bit blurry.

"_Oh hey, what can I do for ya?" _He chirped happily on the other line.

"I'm actually feeling kinda bad. Could you get Celty to come pick me up and I can stay there for a bit, I'm alone here."

The ecstatic tone in his friend's voice faded, _"Sure thing. I'll send her over immediately."_

"Thanks."

He flipped the phone shut and leaned up against the kitchen counter. He could tell that it was going to be a long night.

* * *

Shizuo came home that night at about 10:30. He'd been gone for about 5 hours. Needless to say, he was a bit shocked to find that the brunet was not waiting around at home for him like usual. It wasn't until after he had dropped his stuff by the door, taken off his bow tie and vest, that Shizuo noticed the note sitting on the kitchen counter:

"_Shizuo, Izaya wasn't feeling well. Come to Shinra's. –Celty"_

Putting his cigarette out in the ashtray nearby, he sighed and put his vest back on, not bothering with the bow tie.

Once he made it over to Shinra's place, he wasn't nearly as prepared for what was to come when he was face to face with his long-time friend.

"So what's wrong with Izaya?"

The scientist adjusted his glasses, "Well, Izaya called me up saying he wasn't feeling all that well. So I gave him a brief checkup. What I found was, not only did he have spotty vision and migraines, but he also had a temperature of 100.8, which is not really that great."

"Then what was so important that you felt you had to make me come over here after a long day of work?"

"We apologize but we thought you might be interested in staying for your child's birth after all."

Previously studying the ceiling tiles, Shizuo's attention snapped back to the bespectacled man, "Wait… what did you just say?"

"Shizuo… Izaya is in preterm labor."

* * *

_Oh I am such a troll! TROLOLOLO~ Okay peace out you guys! Have a wonderful and happy Easter! _

_Bye! I love you guys!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Well look at me! I updated quicker than I did last time! And I typed it all in one day too! *throws confetti* That makes me happy. _

_If anyone is going to the convention known as **Animazement**, let me know! I'll be going all 3 days! You'll get a chance to meet me in person! :D_

**_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters. _**

_Me: So don't make me pelt you with chocolate. And not even the good kind._

* * *

Unusual Absence

"You wanna try running that by me again?" Shizuo said in a hardened tone.

Shinra rolled his eyes, "I'm not repeating myself. You know what I said." He roughly grabbed the bodyguard's wrist, "Come with me."

He led the taller man into a room where Izaya was sleeping peacefully on the bed. It was quiet in the room, not including the constant beeping of monitors and other machines that drowned out Izaya's light breathing.

"So what happened?" Shizuo asked, unable to take his eyes off of Izaya. _He looks so fragile…_

Shinra glanced at a few of the screens and then turned back around, "Well from what I've been able to figure out, he must've had a migraine or felt some abdominal pain. On instinct, he took some pain pills, narcotics to be exact. Narcotics are not wise to take during pregnancy. They can cause birth defects and miscarriages. But that isn't why he has gone into labor early."

"Then what is?" The blond said, impatient.

"I'm getting there." The doctor spoke with a strict voice, "Izaya told me when he got here that he saw black spots in his vision. He also mentioned he was dizzy. After taking his temperature, I discovered he had a mild fever. Unfortunately, all of these symptoms point to mild preeclampsia. But that's not enough to trigger preterm labor.

There was a small silence only to be broken with a sigh from the bespectacled man, "The actual problem is mostly my fault, since Izaya conceived because the fertilization serum I had been working on. It was still in the works. It gave Izaya a properly functioning uterus, but that's all it did. It's supposed to give it a cervix, as well as the tubes that provide the fetus with the necessary nutrients to live. So the child isn't malnourished, but it isn't getting the proper nutrients to keep it healthy." He sat down in a nearby chair, "It's my fault that he got the wrong syringe in the first place. It's even worse that what was in the syringe was an unfinished experiment that still had a lot of bugs to be worked out of it. I'm surprised he was able to make it this far."

Shizuo nodded silently trying to process all of the information in his head. Movement from the bed caught his eye as he saw Izaya stir and finally awaken.

"Shizu-chan… took you long enough." He muttered sleepily, rubbing his eyes. His attention shifted to Shinra, "Did it work?"

Shinra caught the blond's puzzled look, "When I found out he was in preterm labor, I hooked him up to an IV that would administer an antibiotic-type fluid that can stop early labor."

He walked over to the other side of the bed and pressed his palms up against Izaya's abdomen, feeling around and then stepping back with a sigh, "I'm sorry, it had no effect I'm afraid."

Shizuo had a panicked look in his onyx eyes, "Are you absolutely sure Izaya is in… whatever it is you called it?"

"Izaya has been in labor for the past 6 hours I'm guessing. He should start having serious, painful contractions within the next hour. Unfortunately, we can't do anything yet. Izaya is only 27 weeks, so it's our goal to keep the child in as long as possible. I don't want to deliver it unless I absolutely have to."

The bodyguard glanced back to the smaller man, who was trying to find a comfortable position to lie down, then back to Shinra, "So… what am I supposed to do?"

"Right now…" Shinra paused to think, "you need to sit beside him and not leave his side. And if he decides to hold your hand—and trust me, he _will_—don't let go if your life depended on it."

As the doctor passed by him and left the room, Shizuo cautiously sat in the chair closest to the bed.

"So are you scared?" Izaya asked the stronger man, fisting the sheets as he did so.

The blond simply shrugged, "Don't know for sure… you?"

He exhaled sharply, "Well… I'll let you know when it's over."

Noticing a look of discomfort on Izaya's face, Shizuo spoke up, "You okay?"

"Yeah." Izaya said after letting out a large breath again.

Although he was still not very convinced, Shizuo let it slide and decided to rest his eyes for the time being.

* * *

Shizuo was jolted awake when he felt something grasp onto his hand. He opened his eyes to see Izaya had a firm grip on his left hand. Izaya was lying on his side with his free hand gripping onto the bed sheets.

Crimson eyes glared at the blond, "Who gave you permission to sleep while I'm suffering, hm? You aren't allowed that luxury. If I can't sleep then neither can you."

A low growl rose in the brunet's throat that ended sounding more like a groan of pain. The grip on Shizuo's hand tightened momentarily and then loosened a bit.

"I don't really feel comfortable with you squeezing the life out of my hand." Shizuo mumbled, looking the other way.

Izaya gritted his teeth, "Oh is that how you feel? I feel like I don't give a damn. You barely feel pain anyway so it doesn't matter. In fact, you should be in _my_ position! See how much of a merry-go-round this is firsthand."

"Does it really hurt that much?"

The pair of eyes opposite him narrowed, "You think I'm _faking_ this? I'm just doing this for shits and giggles, is that it?" He bit down on his bottom lip and grasped the hand tighter, collapsing with a gasp of breath after a few more seconds, "Bullshit. What have you contributed to this little escapade, huh? Nothing except the sperm needed to conceive. I've carried this freeloader for several months, not been able to work, I could go on for hours."

Shizuo took off his blue sunglasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Suck it up, flea, it ain't that bad."

The most evil glare on the face of the earth was sent his way, "Shut the fuck up you protozoan _asshole_. I don't need your moronic two cents to add to my misery and pain."

The blond was about to come back with an insult when he saw something shining as it slid down Izaya's pale cheek.

"Are… are you crying?"

"This fucking hurts, alright?" The brunet bit back at the unnecessary question, "I only get about 5 to 10 minutes at a time to catch my breath."

And that's when it hit Shizuo full force realizing something. _This is going to last for several more hours._

The next thing that crossed his mind was how long could Izaya hold on before something terrible happened?

The smaller man positioned himself so that he was sitting up more with pillows supporting his back. He clasped both of his hands underneath his impressive bump.

"I wonder how long this will take." Izaya voiced his thoughts out loud, "I'm sure Shinra is waiting until I pass out from the immense pain to do anything. He just wants to watch me suffer, the little prick."

Shizuo chose to remain silent and not respond to the comments being made.

Izaya turned his head to face the blond, "You know what, Shizu-chan? I'm not scared of what's happening right now. I'm just really fucking pissed off. I'm just mad at the world."

Suddenly, the brunet found himself curling up again as another pain slammed in to him. He whimpered loudly and began to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth, occasional gasps escaping as he tried to deal with his worst contraction yet.

The inevitable hand grasped Shizuo's once more with more of a vice grip than ever before. So much so that Shizuo could actually begin to feel a bit of pain himself.

Sweat beaded on Izaya's forehead as he continued breathing harshly, "Sh-Shizu-chan…"

In an attempt to try and soothe the poor man, Shizuo stroked his thumb on Izaya's trembling hand.

_How much more could Izaya take?_

* * *

_Mwahahahahaha~! I am so evil aren't I? I'm just not being nice at all with the endings to these chapters! Well I have less than 2 weeks of school left so then I'll be more active in updating stories (I hope)._

_Bye bye! I love you guys! See you next time!_

**Someone mentioned to me that I have not used the word "baby" once in this fic. I don't do that for any of my mpregs. The reason being because no matter who the character is or what their personality might be, I just think them saying "baby" in that context, is OOC and it is one of the many things that will make me hit the back button when reading someone else's mpreg fanfic.**


	12. Chapter 12

_Hi you guys! I've been anxious to write this chapter although it took a while for me to come up with how to start it off. After getting the con plague at Animazement, I have been able to recover from it all. I've been doing a pretty decent job keeping them in character so far but it's nearly impossible for me to do that now. So bear with me on how they act, I try I really do. _

_Pictures of our Durarara photoshoot from AZ will be posted on my Facebook fan page: on. fb. me/lfff1c (remove spaces)_

**_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._**

_Me: Ryohgo Narita's characters are just way too easy to manipulate. I'm just glad I haven't seen that many OC fics. I shall kill all you OC writers like the scum you are._

* * *

Unusual Absence

"_There is no way in hell I am taking prenatal vitamins." Izaya looked at the pill bottle with a sour expression on his face._

_Shinra frowned at Izaya's reaction, "But you need to have at least _some_ prenatal care for the child, Izaya!"_

"_Nope. Not doing it." The brunet said as he turned to walk away, tossing the bottle behind him. "There is not enough ootoro in the world to make me ever consider that."_

_As the 20 weeks pregnant man was about to waltz out, a strong hand wrapped its fingers around his wrist and pulled him back in._

"_Maybe not. But there's still me." A certain blond grumbled as he walked the informant back into the doctor's living room, forcing Izaya to sit on the couch._

_Izaya crossed his arms against his chest and pouted, "Listen, I don't want to take stupid vitamins."_

_Shinra sighed as he gave the bottle to Shizuo, "Izaya, after the accident you've had, I have no other choice. Don't you want the child to be healthy?" _

"_It's keeping me from my work. I could give a damn."_

_Shizuo tossed the pill bottle up in the air a few times before throwing it at the smaller man's head, "Take the fucking pills, flea. If Shinra is saying you have to, then you will."_

_Izaya rubbed the side of his head to alleviate the pain, "Ooh, is Shizu-chan trying to win Father of the Year now?"_

* * *

Shizuo watched Izaya in his struggle to breathe as he suffered more pain. His hand was still being squeezed every so often. He used his free hand to remove his cobalt sunglasses and then proceeded to pinch the bridge of his nose.

_This has been going on for 10 hours straight. _The debt collector thought with grief, _When will Shinra decide to do something?_

Izaya's hair was in total disarray, sticking in every direction possible. Sweat was evident on his pale face with a pink tinge on his cheeks. Plus, he refused to lay any way except for on his right side. Something told Shizuo that was because either he wanted to be able to see him… or just have better access to killing his hand.

After some moments of silence, Celty entered the room and swiftly showed Izaya her PDA.

_[How are you feeling?]_

Izaya squinted his garnet eyes in the attempt to read the small text and then relaxed back again, "Well to be honest, I'm sweaty, clammy, I'm having difficulty in finding a somewhat comfortable position, and overall am just getting really sick and tired of this whole childbirth thing. Goddamn, even Shizuo's son is taking his sweet time to accomplish anything."

She nodded and left the room silently. Shizuo smiled to the dullahan as she walked out, then turned to Izaya, "You could be a bit nicer, you know."

"It just hurts so much…" The distressed man said quietly, as if apologizing for something that he'd done, "It's all your fault, asshole."

The blond patted the other man's hand reassuringly, using all of his willpower to push past the insult, "I know it does."

Rosy eyes rolled in their sockets, "Like you know what true pain feels like."

At that moment, Shinra walked in with a tense air about him.

"Shinra, thank god. Please tell me you are saving me from the hell." Izaya said, a pained but hopeful look on his tired face, "I can't take it any longer."

"Unfortunately, I am." He sighed, eyeing the monitors that were beeping at an alarming rate, "The placenta is under distress and the fetus is in great peril. If I don't get it out within the next few hours, the child won't make it and neither will you."

Shizuo had an expression of the utmost solemnity, "So what happens now?"

"He goes in for a Caesarean section. I have no choice but to remove the infant surgically." He looked at the pair gravely, "Usually a child born this early has a very good chance of survival, but as this is an entirely different scenario, I have no idea what might his chances are."

Izaya had been listening attentively until he was hit with another massive wave of pain to which he curled back up on himself, earning a sympathetic look from the other two men.

"When will you perform the surgery?" The blond asked, turning to the mad scientist.

"I'm hoping to do it within the next few hours. It's extremely risky to wait any longer. You are welcome to stay and watch if you'd like. Izaya may need someone to support him. And it looks like you are the prime candidate."

When the brunet opened his eyes again, they were completely bloodshot. It blended almost too perfectly with his red orbs, giving a more demon-esque look to them, "Just get it _out._"

* * *

It was a couple hours later, now afternoon, when Izaya was rolled into surgery in Shinra's makeshift operating room.

A curtain was placed below Izaya's neckline so he wouldn't see what all was happening. A breathing mask was covering his nose and mouth to help supply him with oxygen. The shot that was administered earlier has kicked in fully, as he could hardly feel anything.

Shizuo stood obediently by the man's side. He winced as he saw Shinra make an incision below the swollen belly. It looked rather painful, but he reassured himself that Izaya was unable to feel it.

"You're doing fine, Izaya." Shinra's voice was slightly muffled from his surgical mask, "I'm surprised at how the uterus is in such good shape, even though it is very out of place among everything else."

The bodyguard had been watching Izaya's semi-relaxed face, but looked back over just in time to see Shinra break the placenta and get his gloved hands on the fetus inside it. He found himself unable to tear away from the scene, as he watched Shinra pull the small child out, who was covered in blood and other fluids.

But the one thing that disturbed him among everything else was… it was completely quiet.

Celty hastily took the silent infant over to a counter and laid him on a towel, where she got rid of all the fluids in his mouth and nose.

The little pink bundle was squirming helplessly lying on its back. Shizuo broke away from Izaya for a moment and went over to see the little thing. His son opened his uncolored eyes and blinked sleepily, looking up at the stranger curiously.

It disturbed Shizuo when that little voice in the back of his head whispered so eerily, _'This is your handiwork…' _

But he couldn't help feeling a pang of guilt when Celty started hooking the infant up to machines to assist the little underdeveloped lungs in breathing.

"Shizu-chan…"

Hearing the pet name broke the bodyguard out of his thoughts and he turned back to the informant, "Yes?"

A small smile spread across the doll-like face, "Now I won't feel any more pain."

Just as Shinra finished stitching Izaya up, the two of them heard it. And it will be a sound Izaya will never ever forget for as long as he lived his life among humans.

Their son was crying.

* * *

_I'm sorry about the length of it! I try my hardest to make it a good size but it proves difficult at times. The child was born at roughly 27 to 28 weeks. I hope you all enjoyed it and I shall see you again in July! Have an awesome summer!_

_I love you guys! Bye! :D_

**_A link to a recap of my Animazement experience is posted on my profile for those who wanted to read about it._**

**Someone asked me where I get my inspiration from. I get a lot of it from songs. I particularly like listening to songs from "Les ****Misérables" or Vocaloid while I'm writing it all out.**


	13. Chapter 13

_Hello again! Now I know what you're thinking, you're freaking out because the chapter came early in the month so you'll have to wait a long time until the next one. Well fear not! I have decided that, out of the goodness of my heart, that I would write **two chapters**__ this month! Why? Because I want to pick up the pace of this story and wrap it up soon! Not too soon, we still have at least 3 or 4 chapters left so don't worry about that!_

___There is a **Durarara Petition **to get a second season of Durarara! I made a video (while dressed as Kururi) instructing you on what to do to sign the petition! Go here: bit. ly/iQkGqQ_

**_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._**

_Me: I've been in the yaoi/mpreg business for too long. I was watching an episode of that new show "Suits" the other day and had a serious Erika moment. Help me. _

* * *

Unusual Absence

"_What do you mean you 'have to miss work for the next week'?"_

The frustrated voice on the other line made Shizuo sigh, "Tom, I'm really sorry. I wouldn't do this if I had another choice."

"_I'm not mad at you, Shizuo. It's just that… why do you need such a long time off?"_

"I can't… really tell you." The man tried to choose his words carefully, "It's… I have some family matters that are more of a priority now."

There was a pause on the other end of the line, _"Fine. I just wanted to make sure it had nothing to do with Izaya."_

Shizuo took a peek at the slumbering Izaya while his boss was talking. He felt bad having to be so vague with his good friend, but he really had no other options.

"Don't worry, Tom. I promise you won't see Izaya and I fighting any time soon."

"_Glad to hear it. Take care, Shizuo."_

"Yeah, bye." The blond muttered before flipping the phone shut.

As much as Shizuo didn't want to admit it, he'd probably need more than a week. But he didn't want Tom to really start asking questions. He glanced at the clock that seemed to tick by so loudly, "This day has been filled with more drama than I can handle and it's still not over yet."

He noticed a slip of paper with Shinra's scribbled handwriting on it. Picking it up, Shizuo saw it had all of the child's information on it. The only thing that was missing was the middle name. He thought for a minute, grabbed a nearby pen, and then filled in the blank. He smiled faintly as he read it.

_Child's Name: _Heiwajima Matteiru Kasuka  
_Mother: _Orihara Izaya  
_Father: _Heiwajima Shizuo  
_Date of Birth:_ 3/8/2010  
_Time of Birth: _14:31  
_Place of Birth: _Ikebukuro (district), Toshima (ward), Tokyo (city), Kanto (region), Japan

"Shizuo." Shinra's voice broke the strong man from his thoughts.

He set the paper down and turned to the doctor, who then motioned towards him, "Come with me."

Shinra led his childhood friend into the next room and brought him up to the small being that was lying in an incubator.

"Izaya had told me that Matteiru was his name, yes?" Shizuo nodded in response and Shinra continued, "Well since he was born so early, his skin is very shallow and can't capture heat very well. So his first few days will be spent in this incubator, which will keep him at the required temperature. His lungs are not fully functioning yet either so we have him connected to a ventilator that will help him with his breathing. There have been some signs of apnea, which is when an infant stops breathing, but it's very common in premature births." The scientist tangled a hand in his brunet hair, "It's really a lot better for him to be out. Now he can get caught up on all the nutrients Izaya wasn't able to provide for him. But those IVs will be gone after tomorrow."

Feeling his head practically explode from all the medical terms and information, Shizuo had only one question, "Can I touch him?"

A warm, yet still goofy, smile spread across Shinra's face, "You can do more than that: you can hold him."

"I… I've never really had a good experience with holding newborns." The bodyguard said with a flush expression, "When I was little, my mother let me hold Kasuka and I almost dropped him. She never let me forget it either."

* * *

When Izaya woke up the next morning, he instantly felt a fiery pain in his abdomen. Needless to say, he was a bit taken aback when he saw the inseam where he had been cut open.

"Oh, you're awake." Shizuo said, in the midst of chewing something.

Izaya couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, "What are you eating?"

As a response, he stuck his tongue out to show a piece of gum, "Nicotine gum. You should thank me."

"Why?"

"Because you sure as hell aren't worth me not being able to smoke a damn cigarette." The blond mumbled, looking in another direction, "The kid's staying in the next room, by the way. He's in some sort of incubator thing and is hooked up to a bunch of machines—kinda like you."

Scowling at the obviousness of the older man's statement, Izaya made a move to get up, "Well I guess I should be going." He face then contorted in pain.

Shizuo nearly jumped up at the informant's careless actions, and forced him back down onto the bed, "You jackass! What are you trying to do? Rip yourself wide open?"

The brunet struggled against the hands restraining him, "Let me go! I have to get back to work!"

"Work? Like hell you're going back to those Yakuza assholes right now! You won't be working for quite a while." Shizuo retorted, trying to reason with the smaller man.

Accepting bitter defeat for the moment, Izaya sat back with a pout, "I'm surprised the world hasn't ended yet from stupidity. Japan needs me for information! Who else is willing to cut throats to get what they need?"

"That's enough, Izaya! Shinra said you can't leave this building until you have fully recovered, which will take around a week." He glared at Izaya for a long time, who stared daggers back at him, leaving a hostile air about the room.

Once the prolonging silence became too much to handle, Izaya spoke, "As fun as it is to glare at you, looks can't kill so you aren't about to drop dead any time soon. Therefore, I see no point in it."

At that moment, Shinra interrupted the bickering couple and strolled in with the incubator and ventilator in tow, "Izaya, I think it's about time you were introduced to your son."

"Is it okay for the kid to be out of the incubator?" Shizuo asked, a little weary of the whole situation.

"For short periods of time, yes." Shinra said, nodding, "I also turned up the heat in the building, so it should be fine."

He opened up the clear casing and, making sure to be careful of all the connecting wires, slipped the infant delicately into Izaya's hold.

Upon receiving the little bundle wrapped in blankets, Izaya's previously harsh expression softened immensely.

_It's a tiny version of a human. _Izaya thought with a bit of humor, _But… it's _my_ human._

Dark eyes opened slightly and gazed up at the larger being. A scrawny little arm reached out and miniscule fingers latched themselves onto the fabric of Izaya's hospital shirt. As soon as Izaya blinked, he realized what a giant mistake it was as he felt a tear roll down his cheek. Sure he loved humans, every single one of them. But never before did he have a human that he could claim as his own.

"Izaya, are you okay?" Shizuo said a bit hesitantly, seeing the informant in such a silent, emotional state.

Shinra tapped the brunet on the shoulder, breaking him from his reverie, "You feel up to feeding him?"

All feelings of compassion gone, Izaya cocked an eyebrow at the statement, "Do I have anything to give?"

A snicker emitted from the other man in the room, desperately trying to contain the urge to laugh.

"Well, the male ovulation serum didn't give you the proper hormones that would trigger lactation. But after the procedure yesterday, I hooked you up to an IV that would administer oestrogen that would help you start lactating."

"Okay, that's just a little gross." The brunet said in slight humiliation.

It was then that he took notice of Shizuo, who was on the verge of busting out in laughter, "Oh, so you think this is funny? This isn't any different from when _you_ sucked on them when we had sex, so you can stay over there and shut your damn mouth."

The blond's eyes widened in shock, while Shinra felt a bit like throwing up from hearing way more than he needed to.

"You remember now?" Shizuo managed to get out, having become speechless otherwise.

The smaller man shrugged slightly, "Only bits and pieces, but I know enough to blackmail you if there is ever a need to."

"Can you two talk about this another time?" Shinra said with an exasperated, sickly look on his face, "Izaya, just let the child feed for a little bit so that he can go back into the incubator. And Shizuo, keep quiet or I can get Celty to show you out."

Shizuo raised his hands in defeat as he continued smacking his gum, "Alright, alright, no need to go parental on us."

As Izaya was about to put his hand on the back of the infant's head, he noticed a little bit of brown fuzz on the top, "Shinra, will his hair color change at all?"

"Naturally? No it shouldn't, at least not until he grows older and it may get a little lighter or darker depending on how much time he spends outside. Why do you ask?"

"He's starting to get some brown hair. But it's not almost black like my hair. How could he have inherited…?" Izaya stopped and thought for a moment, then turned slowly to the man who had been surprisingly quiet, "Shizu-chan, what color was your hair before you bleached it?"

Knowing he was caught, Shizuo buried his face in his arms and mumbled something incoherent. Shinra decided at that moment to cut in, "His original hair color was brown, kind of a mocha color. Chances are, your son inherited that trait from him."

"Well this sucks." Izaya mumbled as he stroked his son's head.

Shizuo then lifted his head up, "What do you mean?"

"How am I supposed to teach him how to be sexy and unbelievably attractive like me when he has a mop like Shizu-chan?"

* * *

_So I hope you all enjoyed it! I feel like I'm dragging this story through the mud right now and am getting absolutely nowhere. So hopefully the other chapter that I will write this month will have a bit of progress in it, ne? Oh, and I wrote all of this in one day. I'm so proud of myself, I'm not even kidding. But right now I'm starving so I'm going to go eat something! _

_See you guys next time! I love you!_

**Note: The date and time of Matteiru's birth were chosen completely at random. I literally googled "Random Date and Time Generator" and used that to determine it. The only criteria I supplied was that it was in 2010 and it was in the afternoon.**

**Also, somebody finally caught the reference so I'll say it. The chapter that has Izaya's nightmare, was inspired partially by a small bit in Katy Perry's "Firework" music video. It's within the first minute of the video. **


	14. Chapter 14

_And here is the second chapter for the month! I was starting to get a little worried. I actually had to ask my dad yesterday what the day was to make sure I had enough time left to write another chapter this month! I was able to sit down and write this within a few hours. I am immensely proud of myself._

**_NOTE: _**_Some people complained (more or less) that they do not like Matteiru's name. "It doesn't sound like a name" or "It's odd" is what I keep getting told. It's a name that Izaya came up with so it isn't really supposed to be "normal" because Izaya isn't really normal himself. My point is, don't worry about the name. Seriously, don't. You will see later on it won't be that big of a deal anyways._

_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._

_Me: You guys are going to hate me. You may love me now but I can see the hate mail coming already. *grins evilly*_

_VOTE FOR ME IN THE OTAKU HOUSE COSPLAY CONTEST! on. fb. me/oVReIz (take out spaces)_

* * *

Unusual Absence

"Let me see my nephew!"

Hearing the familiar voice made Izaya's eyes roll, fists banging on the door leading into Shinra's flat.

Shinra was standing on the inside of the door looking half-stumped as to what he should do.

"I'm sorry, ladies, but you can't see the infant right now. Come back another day!" He said hoping that it'd work.

The girl with the braids stomped her foot, "Oh no you don't, mister! Kuru-nee and I didn't skip school just to be rejected by some stupid doctor! Let us in!"

Kururi sat on the ground with her back against the brick wall and sighed, "No… (It's no use). Another… (We'll come another day.)"

Mairu pouted, still refusing to give up, "Okay Mr. Doctor! I gave you plenty of chances! Tell your door goodbye!"

Shinra had started walking away when he realized what the teen had said and froze in place, "What?"

A yell was heard, a large crash following after it, and Mairu put her right foot down, smiling, "I warned ya~! Now where is our nephew?"

The bespectacled man sighed to himself, cursing the fact that Izaya's sisters were almost just like him, "Right this way."

* * *

After the twins were satisfied and left, Shinra wiped his brow in exhaustion, "I thought they'd never leave."

Izaya shrugged, "Sorry, can't really do a thing about them right now, as much as I'd like to."

"If Shizuo were here than he could have persuaded them."

The red-eyed brunet chuckled, "I wish. They've got him wrapped around their fingers with them being so crazy about his brother."

Shinra smiled, as if he remembered something, "Oh, now that they've left, you need to feed him."

"Again? Shinra do you know how tiring that is? I hate it!" Izaya whined, not wanting to do the humiliating procedure.

"Shizuo isn't here to laugh at you so it won't be as bad." The scientist pressed, already bringing in the incubator that held the small child, less wires accompanying it than before.

Before Izaya could protest anymore, the infant was taken out of the incubator and into his arms, "And how many more times will I have to do this?"

The other man shrugged, "However long it takes until he can handle it. But be careful, I took him off the respirator this morning to see how well he could breathe on his own."

After nodding at his childhood friend, Izaya tried getting into a more comfortable position. It was then that he noticed something off about the child, "Yo Shinra, you may want to put him back on the respirator, he doesn't look too good."

"What do you mean?"

Ruby orbs gazed at the small bundle, "He looks like he's having trouble breathing, like he keeps grunting occasionally. And… his skin looks almost blue."

Shinra took the child back and saw exactly what Izaya meant, "Um… okay we'll skip the feeding for today and I'll get him back on his respirator. That definitely shouldn't be happening."

Whisking the preemie away, Izaya watched Shinra leave and, no more than ten minutes later, a small knock signified that Shizuo had returned from his errand.

"Hey flea, I got you your precious sushi." He said, throwing said flea the take-out bag, "Anything happen when I was gone?"

Taking out the box filled with ootoro, Izaya smiled at the brute, "Oh don't even get me started. My sisters caused a fuss just so they could see their nephew."

Shizuo nodded knowingly, not needing any more explanation than that, knowing full well how "forceful" the twins could be.

"And just a few minutes ago," Izaya continued, after swallowing a piece of sushi, "when Shinra brought Matteiru in to be fed, he didn't look so good."

"Shinra or the kid?"

"The kid. He sounded like he had a lot of trouble breathing and had a rather eerie blueish tint to his skin." The brunet explained, giving a shudder, "It was really weird."

Taking in the informant's words, Shizuo nodded, "Did Shinra say what was wrong?"

Izaya shook his head, "No, he took him away. I didn't even get a chance to feed him."

"Yeah, I guess that is kinda weird isn't it?"

Suddenly, Shinra nudged the blonde aside, reentering the room, "Oh Shizuo, you're back. Good you can hear this too."

Izaya sat up in his bed, giving the doctor his full attention, "Did you find out what was wrong with him?"

Shinra took off his glasses and gave a sheepish look, which didn't send out a good vibe to the other two people in the room, "Well, I have good news… and then I have bad news."

"What's the good news?" The two said in unison, almost scarily so.

"The good news is that Matteiru doesn't have chronic apnea like I thought." Shinra started off, "But the bad news is… well, I think he has something a bit worse."

The brunet raised an eyebrow at the man, "Define what you mean by 'worse'."

The bespectacled man fought to use the right words that wouldn't greatly upset the pair, "After doing a check up and running a few quick tests of my own, I have determined that he has Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome. It's a disease that is common in 50% of preemies born within 25-28 weeks of gestation. When he showed signs of apnea, I mistook it for being just that. But apnea is one of the symptoms of RDS, so it falls on me that I brushed off the possibility of it being something more serious."

"And just how serious is this?" Shizuo said, sounding a bit uneasy after hearing all this information.

"Well… I'm not sure yet. It is a lethal disease if that's what you are asking. I can't tell how severe a case this is until I do some further examinations. RDS usually lasts around 4-7 days, the infant getting progressively worse but then improving within the last couple days. By the same time next week they would have had a full recovery. But there are times when it prolongs to more than a week and that's when the child is in life-threatening danger."

Izaya was feeling a bit on edge as well, not liking that he had to hear something was wrong with his child, "And what stage would he be in right now?"

Hesitating for a moment, Shinra answered, "I would say since he is only a little over 5 days old, probably right at the stage where it gets worse. That would most likely explain why he was showing many more symptoms today than usual. He should get better within the next few days."

"And if he doesn't?"

The scientist's face fell, desperately searching for an answer that would satisfy his long-time friends, "Let's not think about that! It'd be better for everyone if we just think of the positives, don't you think?"

Leaving the room with a smile on his face, it was soon gone when he came face to smoke with his lover, who promptly shoved a screen in his face.

_[Okay, so when are you going to tell them the truth?]_

A rather uncomfortable smile spread on the doctor's face, "Celty, my love, relax~! I don't know what you are talking about!"

_[The child is in critical condition and you know it. Shizuo and Izaya have a right to know as well.] _She typed out furiously.

Shinra dragged the dullahan around the corner, "I'm thinking of what's best for my closest friends!" his face got very serious, "Dropping a bombshell like 'Oh by the way, you child has an 85% chance of dying' isn't exactly the best thing to do when Izaya is still mentally recuperating from the surgery. He has a very high risk of putting us all in danger if things don't go the way he might have thought they would. As much as I would like to tell them, I have to wait until the time is right."

She mentally sighed and typed slower this time,

_[How much time does the child have?]_

The man pinched the bridge of his nose, partially overwhelmed by all that had been going on.

"I'd give the poor thing a week at best."

* * *

_Is something going to happen to the child? Will he come out okay in the end? That's for me to know and you to find out. I've had this planned out for several months so you guys can't really change my mind. But I'd love to see you guys give it a try! _

_Bye until August! I love you guys!_


	15. Chapter 15

_I did it! I got the chapter out before the month was up! I actually did it! *hysterical laughter* I honestly thought I wasn't gonna make it because I just had no inspiration to write at all! At the beginning of the month I was just relaxing and enjoying the little summer I had left but then this past week I was secretly freaking out wondering when I would be able to know what to write. __Yes, I have started school and it's okay, I just wish I had some of my friends there with me._

_And oh my god, I got hit by Hurricane Irene today and I lost power and wasn't able to play video games or nothing. I couldn't even make ramen. *grumbles to self* But I digress..._

**_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._**

_Me: This story is about to take a ride into the carpal tunnel. Anyone who gets that reference, PM me and you get something special. :D Those of you who don't, type in "Mafia Wars" on Youtube and click the first video that comes up. *swings pimp cane and leaves*_

* * *

Unusual Absence

"_I'd give the poor thing a week at least."_

Two weeks went by, and contrary to what Shinra predicted, the Respiratory Distress Syndrome came and went without any real difficulties. The 3 weeks old preemie was taken off of the incubator, and was only kept on oxygen for a few hours a day.

After Izaya was given the okay by Shinra to go home, he decided to stay at Shizuo's for a while longer until all of his energy was restored. At the moment he was sitting on the couch with his typical attire on, minus the jacket. He had been experiencing hot flashes lately which Shinra claimed was "normal". Shizuo thought it was hilarious and teased him about PMS often.

The brunet poked at his smaller stomach. It shrunk in size dramatically from what it used to be. But he feared that his "sexy abs" were long gone and in their place were bright red stretch marks and scarring. There was no way he would be able to go topless to the beach.

Well at least he was still devilishly handsome and irresistible. That would never change.

It was then that he noticed a smell lingering in the air. Taking a big whiff of it only made the brunet's head spin. With a grunt of effort, Izaya got up off of the couch and went rummaging through Shizuo's cabinets. What was he looking for? He wasn't exactly sure himself. But something did not smell right and he wanted to find what it was.

After some investigating, he found that a rat underneath the sink knocked over a jug of bleach that then spilled everywhere. Mentally scolding Shizuo for not having called an exterminator for the pests, he decided to clean up the majority of it and confront the blond about it when he got home from working with Tom.

Izaya got down on his knees, wondering how long it had been since he could bend down like this, and went through drawers looking for a washcloth or towel to clean up the mess. Opening up one drawer, he saw a folded up piece of paper that he immediately recognized as Shiki's handwriting.

"Why would my boss write anything to Shizu-chan?" The informant wondered out loud, unfolding it to see what was written on the inside.

The note's contents were a list of names and dates, with little bits of information scribbled here and there. To anyone else, this would look uninteresting and ordinary, but to Izaya, it was the shock of his life. It was an info sheet that information broker's got whenever they started a case. After more digging, he found even more—at least ten of them, each one very different from the others.

Oh yes, Shizuo definitely had some explaining to do.

* * *

Shizuo made his way up the concrete steps to his apartment with the sun setting behind him. He fished his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, making his way inside with a few grocery bags in hand.

The first strange thing was that the flea said nothing when he walked through the door. The next thing was that it reeked of bleach and the cabinets underneath the sink were all cleared out. But the strangest thing of all was that when he did find Izaya, the man had a very knowing look on his face, like he found out the secret to why Bill Gates was so rich.

"What's with that look, louse?" He finally caved in and asked later when he was putting groceries away.

The younger man played with a pen while sitting at the counter, "I found out your secret."

That really didn't help, nor did it make Shizuo feel any better. The nonchalance in Izaya's voice only meant trouble, "What? That I snore at night?"

"Oh no, I've known that since back in high school. Shinra documented every single tic you had back then for his science project or something." He bit down on the pen cap.

"Then what is it?" The blond said, gripping on the edge of the counter, trying to hold in his building frustration.

Red eyes avoided darker ones, becoming more interested in what was outside the window, "My boss."

"Huh?"

Izaya chewed on the pen cap thoughtfully, "Why are you working for Shiki, my boss?"

Nails dug into the cherry wooden countertop, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about those information slips I found in your kitchen drawer." Seeing the stronger man's eyes widen, his eyes only hardened their gaze, "Yeah I saw them, and I know what exactly what you are doing. It's some scheme you've thought up in the prehistoric brain of yours to turn my own boss against me. Tell me I'm right."

Shizuo rolled his eyes, "You know the funny thing is you are actually completely off-course."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not trying to ruin you or turn your boss against you. That's bullshit." He pulled out even more information slips from his back pocket, "I've been doing your damn job for you since before you even moved in! Aside from working with Tom, I've picked up 75% of your work load that you had to abandon after you couldn't stand to show yourself in public. I'm not a beast you find at a fucking zoo. As shocking as it may be for you to hear, I do have feelings and I can do nice things for people if I feel like it." He took out a cigarette to light it.

Izaya remained quiet until he was about to light the cigarette, "I thought you were quitting that."

Shizuo sucked in deep, taking in the nicotine happily, "Like hell I'm gonna do that. I just stuck it out for the damn kid. Now I don't need to hold back." Before he could take a second swig, the cancer stick was sliced in half in the matter of a millisecond.

"You _are_ aware that can kill you, right?" Izaya scolded.

"You _are _aware that I don't give a flying fuck, right?" The blond mocked him back, taking out the whole pack and his lighter.

Snatching the two items from the taller man with ease, Izaya lit the entire box on fire and threw them out the window.

Hatred raged in Shizuo's eyes as he grabbed the flea's collar, "I hope the entire neighborhood burns down and you get thrown in jail."

"Then who will be the one on diaper duty, Mr. Super Dad?" The brunet spit back with a grin on his face.

Throwing the man onto the couch, Shizuo crawled on top and pinned him down, "You really get on my fucking nerves sometimes."

As calm as can be, Izaya surveyed his surroundings, his eyes catching stains on the couch he hadn't seen until now, "Is this the couch you fucked me on?"

Caught completely off-guard, a blush rose on the blond's cheeks, "Sh-shut up! And don't say it like that…"

"Why?" Izaya inquired with interest, "You say 'fuck' all the time. Or perhaps is it because it's too dirty?" He pouted to the man above him, "I thought you liked it when I came in your apartment so drunk off my ass and was practically begging to be taken? If I remember you even wanted round two~!"

Shizuo clenched onto Izaya's arms even tighter, "I thought I told you to shut up, you damn flea!"

"You wanna know what I think?" He readjusted himself as best he could underneath the strong grip, "I think because of the whole ordeal, our sex life has been seriously lacking. You never even looked at me the same. And here I thought you had a pregnancy fetish." The brunet's grin grew wider at seeing the strong man's face bright red, spurring him on more, "You know, why don't we just have a little quickie right now?" He lifted his pelvis and grinded their hips together teasingly, only for a second.

"Shit… I swear to god, flea, stop it." Shizuo grunted out, his teeth clenched tight to make sure he didn't make any other sounds. He needed to find a way out soon or else his animalistic instincts would take over—just like last time.

Almost like a saving grace, the phone rang at that moment and Shizuo quickly grabbed a fistful of Izaya's hair and smashed his head into the glass coffee table, shattering it.

He ran up to the phone and answered it breathlessly, "Hello?"

"_Shizuo? It's Shinra." _A grave voice came from the other line.

Composing himself after what just happened, Shizuo finally caught his breath, "What's going on?"

"_I um… I think you and Izaya need to get over here, now if you could."_

"Why? Is something wrong with the kid?"

A long drawn out sigh, _"Well… yeah. Just get over here as soon as you can."_

Hearing the rare seriousness in his friend's voice, he knew immediately what had happened, "Okay, yeah we'll be there soon."

After hanging up the phone, Shizuo pinched the bridge of his nose in agony and frustration, "Dammit."

"Was that Shinra? What did he want?" Izaya asked, as he was sitting on the couch, completely unharmed save for a bit of blood on his face, picking glass out of his hair.

"He needs us to go down there. Right now."

* * *

Getting to Shinra's house, they both immediately were escorted by Celty into the living room.

Shinra was there waiting for them. He looked at Shizuo and they exchanged a knowing glance and then looked at Izaya, completely oblivious to the events that had occurred. At the moment, Izaya was like any typical mother, a ticking time bomb. Although he never really showed a great deal of affection for the child, he still had that unbreakable bond. It was his child after all. If anything bad were to happen to that child, it can cause any normal woman to go madly insane. It was terrifying to imagine what would happen to Izaya in that same situation.

And they were about to find out.

Leading them into the room where Matteiru was kept, they circled around the infant, lying disturbingly still in his bed. There were no machines attached to him, not even oxygen.

Izaya was the first one to break the silence, "So the kid is able to function on his own now? That's good news."

Shizuo winced at the comment, showing Izaya didn't see the obvious. It was painful, even for the man who couldn't feel pain. His heart ached as he looked at their son, _his _son, with not a breath of life in him. How long would it be until the brunet took notice?

"So why are we just watching him sleep?" Izaya spoke up again, a little irritated no one else was speaking.

"Izaya…" Shinra looked at him solemnly, pleading for him to understand.

Suddenly, it was like something went off in Izaya's brilliant mind. He reached out and took hold of the preemie's tiny hand, but instantly let go at the coldness of the supple skin, "Why is he so cold?"

Even Celty could have cried as she watched the scene unfold. Shizuo placed a hand on the smaller man's shoulder, "He's gone."

Izaya's blood went cold, "What?"

"I'm sorry, Izaya. Matteiru is dead—there was nothing I could do. I'm so, so sorry." Shinra spoke softly and carefully.

"No… no, you're lying." His heart turned violently inside his chest, "Why would he… it's not possible for him to…. he got better!" It felt like he had the wind knocked out of him.

The doctor sighed, "He did get better, miraculously to say the least. But when I checked on him this afternoon, he was gone. My guess is that it was just a common case of SIDs."

A sudden rage burning in his fiery eyes, Izaya pinned his childhood friend to the wall, "Why didn't you check on him sooner?" he shouted, tears forming in the corners of his eyes, "You could've saved him! He'd still be here with us!" His grip loosened as he fell to his knees.

Shizuo knelt down and pulled him back up, his vision blurring a bit as well, "Izaya, it's not Shinra's fault."

"You're right." Izaya spoke softly as if he just had a stunning revelation, "It's my fault. I did this to him. I killed him… I killed my son."

Seeing events turn for the worse, Shinra stepped in, "It's not your fault either, Izaya. SIDs is very common, especially in premature infants. Thousands die every year because of it..."

Izaya heard words, but didn't bother listening to them. He was a murderer, so why did he have the privilege to live?

"I want to die."

As if in a haze, the grieving mother got up slowly and made his way to the counter where some surgical equipment was, and began reaching for the scalpel.

After realizing what Izaya planned to do, Shizuo rushed over and snatched the tool away from him, it falling to the floor, "Stop this, Izaya, right now."

When the brunet grabbed another surgical tool, Shizuo knocked it out of his hands as well, then shoved all the other sharp tools onto the floor, Shinra quickly putting them all out of reach. Then Izaya broke out of his trance and quickly became livid when he saw all the tools were gone.

"What did you do?" He screamed in Shizuo's face, then began a search for whatever he could find to harm himself. Shizuo quickly wrapped his arms around Izaya's waist and pried him away from the countertop.

"Noooo!" Izaya cried helplessly, "Let me do it! I deserve it! I deserve to die! I want to die with him! Please!" He began kicking and clawing for something, _anything_ to put an end to his misery. Why wouldn't they let him? He deserved it for the sins he had committed.

Shizuo was getting scratched and kicked repeatedly—and it hurt like hell—but he couldn't allow Izaya to do this to himself. So he held onto the wailing man with his safest amount of strength, rocking him back and forth. Shinra and Celty watched, absolutely grief-stricken, as Izaya clawed at his neck, only to have Shizuo pull his hands away. Soon enough, he just stopped trying and sat there up against Shizuo, wishing death repeatedly on himself.

"I wanna die… please."

_I don't want to live anymore._

* * *

_So this chapter had a little bit of everything: humor, fighting, seducing, and death! I'm sorry, I had to! It was something I thought about ever since I came up with the idea. I discussed it with a few other writers who thought it'd be a great opportunity to break away from the usual mpreg where they live as one big happy family. Shizuo and Izaya can't live like that due to their violent nature towards each other, so it was perfect. I've been anxiously awaiting this chapter, and I like how it came out._

_Please don't tell me to change it, because I won't. This provides the base needed that will branch out the story into 2-3 more chapters. It's a vital part of the plot._

_I love you guys! Bye! __*crawls under a rock* _


	16. Chapter 16

_HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEE~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEE~ I'M FINALLY 16 YEARS OLD. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEE~! OH MY GOG it took me long enough I'm for real. I felt like I was 15 forever. The most awesome thing ever is that this is chapter 16. Oh the irony of it all. /puts on Dave Strider glasses_

_So enough about my personal life. On with the story! And just to put it out there, this chapter is a bit shorter than usual, so I apologize for that. There will be a lot more progress next chapter!_

**_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._**

_Me: I am also not responsible for the amount of tissues you waste on this chapter xD_

**_WARNING: This chapter include copius amounts of self-harm and severe male post-partum depression. You have been warned._**

* * *

He felt like such a fool.

Izaya sat there on his knees in front of fresh soil, a makeshift grave present before him. It had been raining all day and he didn't really give a damn that he didn't have a jacket. If he froze to death out here, he would've been happy.

Bleary eyes fell upon the little cross stuck in the ground, the brunet cursing himself for believing that they could've actually made it work. He and Shizuo being parents together? What made them think they could actually go through with it? The two of them just didn't mesh well together: like two keys on the piano that create dissonance, a lion and a panther fighting over a piece of fresh kill, or an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Their relationship in itself was a paradox that even the most intelligent of super computers would short circuit at the mention of. And they had the audacity to think they could raise a kid?

Izaya let out his frustration by punching the moist ground, angry tears flowing down his face. Because they decided to go through with this bullshit, an innocent life was punished. They gave life to a feeble human being, only for it to be snatched away just as fast.

How could they be so fucking _stupid_?

Whenever he glanced at the grave he could feel his heart throb awkwardly in his chest, as though he had been stabbed. For three days, the informant spent his time kneeling on the ground. Today felt like the dreariest one yet. Shinra, Celty, and especially Shizuo tried to get him to come inside, saying he would get sick. What do they know? They couldn't ever hope to understand the insatiable ache he felt every second he wasn't thinking about how much he had wronged such a helpless creature. Izaya wanted to blame it on Shizuo but deep down he knew there was no denying that the blond was not to blame.

"Izaya."

Speak of the devil.

A foreign feeling of warmth surrounded the brunet as Shizuo wrapped the furry parka around the grieving man, "I'm not going inside."

"Izaya listen, we aren't giving you a chance anymore." Shinra's voice could be heard from behind, "You've been out here for three days straight, during which you haven't slept, eaten, or drank anything. Can't you feel your body screaming?"

He actually did feel it for a little while—a few hours at most. But after the first day, his body just felt numb.

Shizuo and Shinra exchanged a brief look of worry about their currently mute childhood friend, and Shizuo experimentally took hold of his arms. Seeing no resistance, he lifted the still man up and carried him inside with Izaya not showing any type of restraint. Although he wanted to stay, he had not an ounce of energy left in him to fight back.

* * *

After being forced to eat some soup, Izaya was told to take a shower before getting some rest. The shower was going, but he was not in it. Izaya just stared at his reflection in the mirror, taking in just how much three days of apathy had done to him. Garnet eyes that lost their scintillated luster and ever cunning twinkle stared back at him. His lips appeared as if they had not smiled in ages, and his face was slowly losing color. He noticed that his clothes were baggier than usual. As Izaya ran his fingers down his washed out face, he found himself wishing that the man in the mirror could drop dead, and wither into dust.

Everything registered in his mind, and then reality struck him like a cinderblock hitting the pavement. Panting slightly, he brought his hands to his head and let out a distorted scream. The emotions and poison he kept pent up in his chest for so long, finally escaping through his voice that bounced off the walls. A frantic Shinra was heard outside, making Izaya stop and panic slightly. He locked the bathroom door and put a chair up against it. Shizuo had a work call so he wasn't around to break the door like it was a toothpick.

It wasn't long before he heard the doctor banging on the door, asking if he was okay. Izaya could've almost laughed at him. But all amusement was gone from his mind once he saw his reflection in that damned mirror again. A newfound hatred built up inside once more as he felt himself go livid. That man in the mirror was pissing him off and he had just about had enough. The brunet turned to the door for but a moment before glaring back at the mirror with all the loathing and disgust he could muster. He gripped the edge of the sink before screaming his lungs out at the mirror where his replica fought right back at him.

Izaya began banging his fists against the mirror as tears streamed down his face. The mirror began to tremble, and the walls began to shake. His fists were soon turning livid colors, but he only struck at the reflection harder and faster.

Izaya struck at his own grim face—his horrible reflection over and over and over…

Until the glass shattered.

The sound of shards hitting the floor reached his ears, along with the loud crash of a door being snapped into pieces.

His hands felt numb almost instantly as he plummeted to the ground in what seemed like slow motion. The impact of the tiled floor never came as he felt himself being caught in someone's arms. Damn, he was really looking forward to getting a head injury of some sort. Oh well.

* * *

It wasn't until several hours later when the brunet came to, he heard the steady beeping of a monitor next to him. When bloodshot scarlet eyes revealed themselves from behind his eyelids, Izaya saw the dumbass protozoan snoring away on the floor beside the bed. He smiled slightly at the amusing sight of the blond looking so sterile. It was definitely something he found comforting to wake up to.

Come to think of it, he actually couldn't remember when he fell asleep. The last thing he remembered was kneeling at his son's grave for three days and then being forced to eat. After that, it was all a messy blur. It probably didn't quite matter anyway. Nothing really mattered to him lately.

Another harsh snore bringing him from his reverie, Izaya looked down at his dear Shizu-chan, who twitched on occasion. His attention was then brought to his bandaged hands, blood stains scattered about here and there. He wondered briefly how it happened, but once again, why did it matter? Life was all just a big joke anyway—like a rose trampled on the ground. You're never guaranteed another second, another moment, or another breath. You exist only to reproduce and then die again, part of which he utterly failed on.

"Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily—life is but a dream."

* * *

_YES I'M ENDING IT THERE AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME. I promise I'm gonna try to update quicker next time and not wait until the very last minute to start writing. I honestly didn't think about the story all month long. My best friend, Courtney got me involved in Homestuck when already I was knee-deep in Ao No Exorcist as well. It's a vicious cycle, I'm tellin' ya._

_Bye you guys! Thanks to those who have stuck with this story for over a year! Cookies for you all! I love you!_


	17. Chapter 17

_So I promised I would get it out earlier this time... yeah that didn't happen. I'm sorry about that! I've gotten caught up in schoolwork and other different parts of my social life. I should've known that wouldn't turn out the way I hoped. _

**_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._**

_Me: DAT NEW HOMESTUCK UPDATE FFFFFFFFF ANDREW HUSSIE IS GOG. _

* * *

Unusual Absence

_Once upon a time, there was a small boy who was the happiest child in all of Tokyo, and smiled throughout the day. His name was Izaya and he loved anyone and everyone he ever met. His thoughts were not tainted, nor did he know the meaning of the word "scorn". He was just a perfectly innocent child._

_When the boy turned six, his parents told him that soon he would have a little brother or sister, which later on became two. He was overjoyed at the thought of having two little sisters to play with and share his knowledge with. But then when the moment arrived for his sisters to come, some difficulties had arisen, so he was escorted out of the room by his grandmother. The twins were born safely, but for reasons unbeknownst to him, his mom seemed to get sicker and sicker with each passing day. _

_It wasn't but 5 days after his sisters were born, that Izaya's mother grasped his small hand in her own weak one, and spoke her last words that would remain ingrained in his brain for eternity, "Love everyone around you, my dear, and I shall always be with you." Her grip loosened and fell silent. At first Izaya only thought she was taking a nap. Daddy said she was, but it was a very long nap, one that she wouldn't wake up from. _

_The day of the funeral, the boy's father took his hand and promised that everything would be alright. "Never stop loving people, and misfortune will never take over your life." He gave Izaya two silver rings that were way too big for him, saying they used to belong to his mother._

_Several years had come and gone when Izaya's father had died, and Izaya, now 14, had to take care of his younger siblings. Until he was old enough to work, they had to live off inheritance money, and when that ran out, he was forced to beg friends and their parents for money, food, or a warm place to sleep. It wasn't until he entered high school, when his world changed. _

_So numb from his harsh, demanding childhood, the once gentle boy had become egotistical and cruel. The number of his friends dwindled at an alarming rate, as he started getting involved with the underworld. But even after he had hurt so many people, destroyed their lives like his own, and caused pain, he still followed his mother's words. And his mother's rings remained on his fingers from the moment they could fit. Everyone knew he claimed to "love all humanity" but most figured he was just being an ignorant bastard like usual. _

_But when he met Shizuo, everything he had learned to live by was thrown into question. _

* * *

It had been nearly a week since Izaya disappeared from Shinra's house. Shizuo had woken up after falling asleep near Izaya's hospital bed, only to find the bed made and him gone. The blond thought that he might find him at home, but was greeted once more with disappointment.

After that, Shizuo tried desperately to find the man, knowing what he was capable of doing to himself. Since the informant had nearly killed himself _twice_, every minute was crucial in finding him. He would wander around Ikebukuro, and even Shinjuku, trying his luck at possibly running into him on the street, just like the good old days. Except this time, Izaya would probably run from him for a different reason.

That's why, when he does find Izaya, he's gonna corner him. All that time walking around gave him a chance to actually plan something out for a change. He was going to create such a scene that people will crowd around them, leaving Izaya no choice but to face him. Even after all that the man has been through, he still cherished his pride and public image more than anything—Izaya Orihara would never run from a fight.

And it was that very same day when Shizuo's plan finally had the opportunity to come to fruition. While crossing an intersection, the bodyguard couldn't help but notice in his peripheral, a familiar face.

He wasn't wearing his furry jacket, but in its place was a black short sleeve hoodie, which drooped a little on the man's slim figure. It was Izaya Orihara, in the flesh, walking hastily and trying to make sure he wouldn't be noticed by others. Just when the brunet thought he was in the clear, a voice rang out that made his blood run cold.

"OI, IZAYA!"

Everyone within 50 feet turned and saw the monster of Ikebukuro. The crowd was shocked, as an event like this hadn't occurred in several months.

Izaya knew he was caught, and tried his best to escape from his rival. But then a large figure bumped his path.

"It's been a while, hasn't it you mangy flea?" Shizuo spoke, playing the part he'd planned so well.

"Yeah I guess it has." The smaller one replied while trying to find a way out.

The large group of people surrounded them, leaving Izaya nowhere to escape, much to his chagrin.

The dangerous couple was about 5 yards away from each other, but Shizuo could easily feel the hatred radiating from Izaya, who was also sending him an annoyed, frustrated look.

"What do you want, Shizu-chan? What do I owe the pleasure of dealing with you once again?" Izaya said, as if he was his normal self. It was easy to act like his old self—like reading from a script.

Shizuo kicked a rock lightly, seeming calm and nonchalant, "I just wanted to announce something to everybody here. It's a little secret that I found out, which I think everyone has a right to hear."

The crowd murmured to one another, obviously intrigued by the statement. Izaya, on the other hand, was absolutely horrified. He didn't dare show it on his face, but in his mind, it was like a bull fight when one of the bulls got loose, "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

"Oh don't play dumb with me, you piece of shit!" Shizuo let out a hearty laugh, "How come you walked out during our date last night?"

* * *

**The previous night…**

_A certain brunet sat in his penthouse—all the lights were off to give the effect that no one was home. He didn't want to be disturbed by Namie or Shiki and especially not the protozoan. He looked down with his broken eyes, shining from the city lights. This was _his_ world, his humans, his universe. What made him think he needed a child? That would've only weighed him down. _

_Izaya walked up to the roof of the large skyscraper. This was the best seat in the house tonight. He looked down below and saw a car crash had occurred and people were standing around just staring, not bothering to help the couple stuck inside. He breathed in the familiar shock in the air, the shock of confusion and chaos that sent chills down his spine. This was all he needed. No Shizuo, no fucking brat to take care of—just his world and him. _

* * *

There was an obvious ripple in the crowd. Izaya was at a total loss for words and was, for once, completely caught off guard. Did he really just say that?

"Shizu-chan, I think you must've hit your head while picking up a vending machine or something. Do I need to take you to the mental hospital?" He tried desperately to spare both of them the humiliation this conversation might bring. _So this is the game you're gonna play, huh?_

The other man just shrugged in response and put his hands in his pockets, "Come on now, don't be like that. It was our 9 month anniversary too." He emphasized the '9 months' to get his inner frustration across.

A fiery rage burned deep down in Izaya's being as he fought to keep his cool. How could that dumbass say that so easily? It was his child too. He gritted his teeth into the best smile he could manage, "Could I talk to you for a second, _in private?_"

Grinning that his plan was a success, Shizuo happily followed Izaya to a more secluded alleyway with no one around. But before Shizuo could draw another breath, a punch was delivered straight to his gut, knocking the wind out of him. He fell on the ground within a millisecond, a familiar-feeling blade pressed up to his neck.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't slit your neck right now, you insensitive asswipe?" The informant spat in the bigger man's face.

"_I'm_ the insensitive one? What happened just a few months ago when you wanted to 'get rid of it' and I had to threaten you just to get you to change your mind?" Shizuo retorted back, overpowering the man still weak from surgery.

Izaya gave a chilling red-eyed glare to the brute, "Let me tell you something, unlike you, I give a damn about my public image. I love what I do for a living! I know things about people that even their closest friends don't know. I walk down a busy street, and my eyes meet a girl's. She does her best to smile at me, just to hide the emotional bruises as she goes home to her abusive father each night. Just behind her is a man in a nice suit that actually has no work to go to. He got laid off months ago, is too ashamed to tell his wife, and all he's doing by walking around the street is buying time. That's the best life I've ever had and your stunt you pulled out there might as well have ruined all of it!"

Shizuo stood there, waiting for Izaya to stop his ranting, but the brunet only continued.

"And you know what? You already nearly ruined my life once! I had a bad night, end up at your place, you fuck me senseless, and then I start not feeling well. Then out of nowhere I get hit with this pregnancy bullcrap, and that's your fault too! Everything is your fault, Heiwajima Shizuo!"

"So whose fault was it that our son died?"

Crimson eyes widened considerably, "You would bring that up, wouldn't you? You can't leave well enough alone!"

Shizuo was well aware that he was pushing buttons he shouldn't but he needed to get this settled now, "You've had plenty of other people killed, so why is this situation any more different? They are all humans that you 'love', am I right? How was the kid special?"

"You heartless bastard. That was our son—_my_ son—and because I was careless and a shitty parent, I killed him."

This was when Shizuo knew he had hit a soft spot. But if there was anything he learned from Shinra's many exams on him, it was one thing: You press until it hurts. And needless to say, he found where it hurt, "Now listen to me Mr. Blame-it-on-yourself, I've put up with your shit for these past several months. I put up with your bitching, I put up with your complaining, and all your crying too!" He grabbed firmly onto the smaller man's shoulders, "LISTEN, IZAYA. You did _not_ kill him. He died from _natural causes_ that thousands of newborns die from every day. There was no pain, no suffering, and most importantly, no error on your part whatsoever. You did nothing wrong."

"But I—"

Just as Izaya was about to deny it, a loud smack resonated off the alley walls, as a red handprint started to show on the brunet's pale face.

"Look at me."

Izaya purposefully looked down to avoid the blond's hard gaze.

"I said look at me, dammit!"

Onyx eyes met bloodshot ones, "What?" The informant hissed.

Wordlessly, Shizuo lifted up the brunet's shirt and revealed the vivid stretch marks on his stomach and hips, "Do you see those?" He silently nodded, "This is eternal proof that you carried that damn kid, provided food and home to it for several months, and took care of him as well." He let go of the shirt as Izaya wrapped his scarred arms around his midsection.

Izaya blinked a few times to get rid of the blurry vision and looked up to the wounded sky, "So it's not my fault…"

Shizuo smiled a little at the smaller man's understanding, and then felt the sudden embrace of Izaya.

"It's not my fault." He repeated in a happier, relieved tone, "It's not my fault, it's not my fault…"

* * *

_Apparently I gave off the impression last chapter that it was the end, when in actuality it isn't. xD When I was talking about ending it there I meant the chapter not the whole story. There are about 2 more chapters until I can officially wrap this baby up. _

_I love you guys! See you next time!_


	18. Chapter 18

_I did it again! I come up with an idea just in time before the month is up! I was shopping during Black Friday and Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas" came up and BOOM I got an idea. And then my mind worked out all the details from there. I fucking love when that happens, don't you?_

**_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara! or any of the characters._**

_Me: But I have been making Homestuck MVs like crazy lately. Stupid Courtney getting me involved in that. And even now I'm an avid Terezi RPer. _

* * *

Unusual Absence

After getting Izaya to comply and come with Shizuo to Shinra's house for a checkup on his current state, the doctor said he would like to talk with the two of them.

The blond and brunet sat on the couch, Shinra sitting in the chair opposite of them.

He clasped his hands together, "Well let's see, it's been quite an eventful past several months wouldn't you say?"

"I wouldn't describe it as being 'eventful'." Griped Izaya, "A more accurate term would be 'excruciating', 'traumatizing', 'want to kill myself'—"

"As I was saying," Shinra interrupted before anything inappropriate was said, "I want to go over some guidelines you two need to know now that things have gotten back to normal."

Shizuo rolled his eyes, "I don't even know what 'normal' is anymore."

"Ditto."

"_Moving on, _I did some more research and testing on my male ovulation serum to see what kind of future the two of you could potentially have."

"The only kind of future I want is to be continents away from this monster." Izaya scoffed, the two of each other flipping the other off.

Shinra bit his lip, containing his frustration for the odd couple and tried to be civil, "Well things may change, you never know. Anyway, although I'm pretty sure it won't be likely—as long as Izaya lies off the drinking—that you keep to having _completely safe_ sex when on the receiving end. The serum is still in your system, as it will always be. If you hadn't conceived, it would've just come out in the form of bloody urine, but since Shizuo couldn't keep his pants on, you will always have to ability to bear children. Whether you use that to your advantage is up to you, Izaya."

"Yeah I don't want kids."

"That's what I figured." The doctor scribbled something on a clipboard. The silence in the room was almost deafening.

When the awkwardness became unbearable, Izaya got up and stretched. "I think I'd better leave." His shirt rose a bit and gave a quick flash at his stretch marks, catching Shinra's attention.

"Izaya, wait. Do you have stretch marks?"

The informant lifted his shirt a bit, "You mean these hideous things? I guess so, yeah. Why?"

"How long have they been there?"

He hesitated for second, "Can't say I'm sure. I didn't notice them until after the kid died, so it could've been before that. Are they like, malignant or something?"

The brute groaned, "No you dumbass. That shit's normal. It's the only normal thing about you." He mumbled the last part to himself.

"I'm sorry, Shizu-chan, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the construction workers repairing the _50 street signs you've uprooted_."

"That's it, you motherfucking louse!" He punched in the coffee table, it snapping like a toothpick. Within the blink of an eye, Izaya was up against the wall, with Shizuo's forearm partially blocking his air supply, "I fucking saved your sorry ass countless times from trying to kill yourself. And not to mention, I brought you out of a spiraling depression. You owe me into the next lifetime. Stop throwing shit at me when in reality, you should be thanking me! But I'm sure that's a term you've never even heard of."

Izaya held up his hands defensively, "Calm your tits, man. I've barely even said a word to you. All I was trying to do was converse with my good friend Shinra. Now if you would be kind enough to let me down, I'll just be getting back to said conversation. Or even better, and this offer is just for you, I'll leave."

Regrettably, Shizuo obeyed, "I swear to God, you deserve to rot in a jail cell for the rest of your life."

The brunet chuckled innocently as he backed away towards the door, "I could say the same about you, _sweetheart_. In fact, maybe we could share one. That'd be a rather short sentence, I'm sure."

Overcome with his blinding rage, the bodyguard launched a nearby flower vase at the other man, just narrowly missing his target. The glass smashed to pieces as it made impact on the already closed door.

Shinra stood by, sighing to himself, wondering just how he got two best friends who could hardly stand the sight of the other person. He glanced over at the calendar which read 'Monday, April 5th, 2010'.

"It's always on a Monday. Always on a Monday." He mumbled to himself, exasperated.

* * *

There was a chilly bite in the atmosphere as winter had made itself known to all the inhabitants of Japan. The season of Christmas was here, and needless to say, people were rather excited about it.

Things had gone back to normal in Ikebukuro. Izaya returned to his job as top informant under Shiki's command and was able to catch up on all the work he'd missed within a day. There was the occasional day every month where the brunet would bump into the blond. More times than not, a short squabble would take place, but Shizuo seemed more careful about how much pain the flea endured, for reasons unbeknownst to bystanders. Izaya had taken notice to this new development as well, but figured out why almost instantly, not thinking much of it afterwards.

The two of them never really exchanged words in civil conversation. They acted as if whole pregnancy incident almost never happened—even though in the back of their minds it still lingered like a bad memory.

It wasn't until Mikado had invited everybody to a Dollars Christmas Party that the two actually met each other off of the battlefield, and even then they tried to avoid each other like the plague.

The party was decent enough for being held by a high schooler. The food was nice and simple, the décor was in good taste, and the mini bar was convenient as it was used frequently.

Izaya did his best to keep his alcohol intake at a minimum, never living down the utter embarrassment of what had happened before. Shizuo on the other hand, was not afraid to down a few tequila shots.

Masaomi Kida thought it would be cute to hang mistletoe in nearly every doorway in the apartment. So naturally, smooches had been going around all evening. Usually it was a shy peck on the cheek, or if a couple had gotten caught under one, a sweet kiss on the lips.

Izaya realized the scheme early on and did his best to walk through doorways only when completely necessary, and to be completely alone in doing so. He wasn't about to be fooled by something as pathetic as kissing under a mistletoe. The whole idea of being forced to kiss under a plant was cheesy and unethical.

However, in Shizuo's case, he hadn't noticed them all night. He wasn't the observant type so as to see those kinds of things without it being deliberately pointed out to him.

Time ticked by and it had eventually gotten late. Most of the people had gone home, save for the inner circle folk such as: Mikado, Kida, Anri, Shinra, Celty, Shizuo, and Izaya.

And then it happened. The aforementioned mistletoe shenanigans where all put to shame when Shizuo, chilling under said mistletoe-adorned doorway, had Izaya pass right by him.

Now Izaya had obviously known there was a smooch plant there, but that was the only way to get to kitchen. He had noticed a stain on his favorite jacket and was not about to let it set in, never able to be gotten rid of. He had no idea when the stain got there, so he had no time to lose. On borrowed time, he figured if he ran by fast enough, no one would take notice.

But as he was making his way past, Shizuo went to take a sip of his drink, accidentally hitting a little bell on the mistletoe, thus drawing the attention of everyone else in the room.

Izaya was so determined to get away, he didn't hear the bell ring, so it was only natural he would be in shock when he heard:

"Holy shit! Shizuo and Izaya are under the mistletoe!"

The couple froze, the taller of the two being totally clueless as to what the teen just said and how any of it applied to him. The brunet on the other hand, would've shot himself on the spot if he could.

Shinra saw the development and he and Celty exchanged a knowing look, being the only two knowing the living hell that had transposed between the pair over a year ago. The doctor and dullahan knew that this wouldn't end well, both parties being quite clear on their distaste for each other.

Shizuo looked up and at last took notice of the accursed mistletoe, and then he looked back down at Izaya, who was desperately trying not to make eye contact, "So what is it we're supposed to do?" The brute asked, completely lost as to the situation.

Masaomi gave a Cheshire grin at the question, "You have to kiss!"

"Uh, Masaomi, maybe we should make an exception in this case…" Mikado mumbled, unsure of what might happen.

"Nonsense, Mikado~!" Kida chirped, shoving the other teen playfully, "We can't let these two get away!"

Izaya sent a fiery glare to the Yellow Scarves leader, mentally ordering him to shut his trap. The brunet then made eye contact with the strong blond for the first time since the predicament arose, "I swear to God, Heiwajima Shizuo, if you so much as think about—"

The words died on his lips as an abrupt force was put upon them. It was abrupt, but felt soft at the same time. Izaya blinked as he came to the stunning realization of just what the force actually was. Heiwajima _fucking_ Shizuo was _kissing him_. And his breath reeked of alcohol with a touch of nicotine gum. Right when the informant was going to push the brute off, the taller man made a snap decision to push him against the doorframe and kiss even _harder_.

Shizuo, somewhere in his partially intoxicated mind, realized there was a familiarity of the mouth he was ravaging. Something from his past memory just made him go wild and yearn for more. The person on the other end wasn't reciprocating at all, which frustrated the blond a bit, and decided that he'd have to make the smaller man participate. He wasn't about to do all the work himself, dammit.

Izaya found himself about to be free as he reached for his pocketknife, but before he could get to it, a hand grasped his wrist and held it in place. _Well shit. _The brunet thought, _I guess I'm stuck here. I suppose a little smooch wouldn't hurt. It wouldn't escalate like last time. Merry Christmas to me._

A Merry fucking Christmas indeed.

* * *

_Just one more chapter, poppies! And then this story is over and done with! _

_Bye bye for now! I love you guys!_


	19. Chapter 19

_It finally happened. I was late in putting a chapter up. I knew it would happen. But in my defense, I started typing it on like the 28th. I just got stuck for a really long time. I WAS BUSY OKAY SADFGHJKL;LKJHGZ_

_Because of my OCD and the fact that I wasn't able to fit the entire thing in one chapter, there will be ONE MORE CHAPTER. And then that's it. I'm closing this story, end of discussion. It's become nothing but a pain trying to come up with ideas now. And I dread the end of each month and go into a panic. xD_

**_Izaya: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._**

_Me: I am going to **Ichibancon** this upcoming weekend for all four days. I hope everyone had a Happy New Year and a Merry Christmas!_

* * *

Unusual Absence

After the incident at the Christmas party, Izaya decided to leave well enough alone. After all, Shizuo never did act like he remembered the ordeal. It was a one-time thing, just like the romance they had.

Wait… romance? What romance would that have been? They never acted like anything more than two people tolerating one another for the sake of an unborn child. Now since that's been taken care of, why should they "tolerate" any longer? It doesn't make sense to keep on.

But still, something nagged at Izaya in the back of his mind that wouldn't go away. He was able to ignore it for a while. Until one night—March 8th—Izaya had a disturbingly familiar dream, one that he hadn't had for a long time. It played out the exact same way except it ended a bit… differently.

_Shizuo raised the coffee table high above his head and smashed it on top of the smaller brunet._

_Izaya shook it off easily and looked at the other with a hurt expression on his face, "Awwwww, so Shizu-chan doesn't love me after all?"_

_"Ha! You've been nothing but a scheming motherfucker acting as a thorn in my side since the day we met! You are undoubtedly the cause of all my problems! I doubt that is the criteria for love."_

_A Cheshire grin, "You wound me, Shizu-chan. Didn't your mother ever teach you to be polite to other women?"_

_There was a dull throb coming from Shizuo's left arm where the flea had sliced through his forearm, leaving a large gash that was bleeding profusely. Right as the blond was about to come back with another insult, the phone rang, all the way on the other side of the room where it had been thrown during the scuffle. _

_The bodyguard reached the phone first and answered it, "Hello?"_

_The voice on the other end sounded very professional, "Yes, is this the Heiwajima residence?"_

"_It is. This is Heiwajima Shizuo, who is calling?"_

"_My name is Miharu Kokuo and I'm with the Kanto Regional Police Department. I have called to tell you that our investigators think that they have found your son."_

_Almost too shocked for words, Shizuo puts it on speakerphone, "Yes, go on."_

"_As part of protocol, we would like you as well as Mr. Orihara to come down to the station to make an official ID on the body."_

Eyes shot open to reveal pure darkness. Izaya breathed heavily as he struggled to recollect the particularly puzzling dream he just had. He remembered the majority of it, but the ending was different. Why hadn't Matteiru come in and stopped their fighting? Better yet, why the hell had he been missing? The kid was dead now so why is it that he started having these bizarre illusions again?

So many questions spun around in his head that he couldn't think straight. After shaking his head clear of his thoughts, and seeing that it was already close to morning, the informant got up so he could get a head start on his work for the day.

* * *

_Shizuo and Izaya made it into the precinct, the drab atmosphere not affecting either of them in the slightest. The looks they received from some of the people were amusing to say the least. The expression on the secretary's face could've won an award for its pricelessness. _

_They met with Miharu Kokuo along with the medical examiner. Standing next to the covered gurney, the unlikely couple braced themselves for the worst. _

_After receiving a nod to go ahead, the medical examiner lifted the sheet, placing it at the corpse's waist. _

_Shizuo's blood ran cold the moment he saw that bushy head of chestnut-colored hair—a color that reminded him way too much of what his hair used to be like. He grasped onto Izaya's shoulders comfortingly, bracing for what the brunet's reaction would be. When he did react, it wasn't what any of them would have expected._

_Izaya just smiled, his crimson eyes filled with hope, "It's not him."_

_The detective and medical examiner gave a worried glance to Shizuo, who responded with an equally sympathetic one, "Izaya."_

"_It's not Matteiru." There was now a small smile on the man's face. He turned to Shizuo, "Shizu-chan, I knew he was still out there somewhere."_

_The blond sighed with a heavy heart and wrapped his arms around him, "Izaya, he's gone. Please don't make this any harder than it has to be."_

_A look of brief confusion was replaced quickly with horror and sadness as the informant finally accepted the facts in his head. He bit his lower lip to keep it from quivering so much. Before his vision could get any more blurry, he shut his eyes tightly and buried his face into the crook of the taller man's neck. _

_Shizuo just rocked his rival back and forth slowly, "How much did he have to suffer?"_

_The medical examiner's empathetic look said it all, "A lot. Old slash wounds on the wrists and arms were painfully reopened, severe anal fissures and traces of semen show he was brutally raped for extended periods of time, about 100 puncture wounds from the metal comb, and then the numerous kicks to his skull and ribs—I'd say it took him at least 10 hours to bleed to death."_

Everything went white as eyelids blinked rapidly, unable to readjust to the change of light.

Shizuo sat up in his ivory sheets and shook his head. He usually could go months without dreaming a thing. But for some reason his mind was plagued with these visions that just didn't add up. It had been a year since the whole ordeal with Izaya. And it confused the hell out of him trying to figure out why it took until now to have these kinds of nightmares.

* * *

"Nightmares, huh?" Shinra spoke inquisitively, "Can you describe what happens in them that is the same?"

Shizuo groaned as he tried to jog his memory, "Um, they all have to do Izaya and the kid. Oh, and in every dream the kid dies. What's his name?" He snapped his fingers trying to remember, "Matteiru! That's right. Matteiru is always dead for some reason or another."

A grin spread across the doctor's face, "Well I'll be damned."

"What is it?"

He chuckled, "It just so happens that Izaya called me the other day complaining of the very same thing."

"So what do you think this means?" The blond asked, still lost on the subject.

"Isn't it obvious? These dreams are flashes from alternate dimensions in the case that Matteiru hadn't died as an infant!"

An even more confused look, "What the fuck does that mean? Say it in idiot-speak, please."

"Izaya still hasn't overcome his guilt of the child's death even after all this time. Therefore, in order to ease his troubled conscience, you two are being shown what would've occurred if he didn't die from SIDS."

The man took a swig of his cigarette, "So it's Izaya's fault as usual then?"

"You're missing the point, Shizuo!"

"Then what is the point then?" He growled.

"No matter what would've happened, the lovechild of you and Izaya was destined to die young!"

* * *

_Just one more chapter. When will it be out? I honestly can't say I know. I'm going to have a helluva lot going on with exams and a musical I'm in. I'd estimate February at the earliest._

_To those who were asking (and I got some criticism when my last story ended) **NO THERE WILL NOT BE A LEMON IN THE LAST CHAPTER. **I'm sorry whoever's dreams I just crushed. It just won't fit into the whole storyline. You guys got more sex from me than the Kuroshitsuji readers did. I gave them a poorly written rape scene and very little smut. You guys have gotten two decent lime-y smut scenes. Next chapter will have the obligatory happy ending and no sex. I couldn't fit one in there even if I wanted to. _

_Love you all! See you next time!_

_**P.S. I strongly suggest liking my Facebook fanpage if you haven't already (link on my profile). I give hints every now and then and update things on there. I also am willing to answer questions** **on my Tumblr account as well. Food for thought.**_


	20. Chapter 20

_And here it is. The final chapter of Unusual Absence. This fic sure was a rollercoaster ride, wasn't it? _

_Just so you guys know, I spent nearly two weeks typing this thing. I started it on the 18th and just finished it today. It has been quite the experience, let me tell ya. This thing amounts to over 5000 words. Don't say I never spoiled you rotten._

**_Disclaimer: Cookie doesn't own Durarara or its characters._**

_Me: I'll never have to say that ever again. HALLELUJAH._

* * *

Unusual Absence

Izaya sat there in his apartment, thinking about all the shit that's been going down. Wasn't it just a few years ago that he woke up every day, feeling like he could take on the world? Why did that seem like such a difficult task now? He knew the answer, but he didn't want to admit it. Orihara Izaya had gone soft.

Putting his hand beneath his shirt and feeling the rough scar that was manifested there, Izaya groaned loudly. He'd gone from being the puppet master of Ikebukuro to post-partum mother in a year and a half. Was this what they called "karma"? Did he really deserve all this bullshit?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the familiar tone of his cell phone. Fishing it out of his pocket, he saw a number he didn't recognize.

"Orihara speaking."

"'_Sup, faggot." _The grimy voice came.

He could tell it was an American immediately, "Who are you? How did you get this number?"

A disturbing cackle, _"How's your devil spawn doing? Oh that's right, it died, like the vermin it was."_

"Do you know who you are talking to? You must have the wrong person." Izaya said with confidence, but there was a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"_I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't try to play dumb you fag, we know everything."_

The informant desperately tried to keep a joking demeanor, "Alright I admit I left the oven on yesterday, can I go now?" Certainly whoever this guy was, was bluffing his ass off.

"_Why don't you tell me how long you've been Heiwajima's fuck buddy? Shiki is just dying to know." _Another chilling laugh.

Finally, the brunet was at an utter loss for words and chose to remain silent.

"_Let this be a warning to you, you sniveling little cocksucker. We've been ordered to take you out, and figured we'd give you a heads up. See you around, fucking homo."_

And then the line went dead. The sound of the dial tone has never been more terrifying than it was at that moment.

* * *

"So what you're telling me is, these dreams that Izaya and I have been having are glimpses into alternate universes where the kid dies, but at an older age." The blond said slowly, still trying to understand.

"Basically."

Shizuo ground his teeth, "Shit still makes no sense."

Shinra adjusted his glasses and chuckled, "I don't think I'm able to make it any simpler for you, Shizuo."

"It's all that fucking louse's fault."

The doctor smiled in amusement, "Oh yeah, and how'd you figure that?"

He scoffed, "All the ways that man has royally fucked up my life, he deserves the most gruesome death possible." He cracked his knuckles, "And one day, I'm gonna be the one to give it to him."

"C'mon Shizuo, you're still gonna say that after everything you two have been through together?" Shinra asked, rolling his eyes knowingly.

At that moment, Celty walked in rather briskly and showed a message to her partner, _[Izaya is here to see you. He's a little stressed out.]_

She stepped back cautiously and let Izaya in the room. The poor thing looked like he'd just seen a ghost. Seeing this, Shizuo didn't know what was scarier: Izaya's expression or whatever made him that worried. Everybody knew that Orihara Izaya was not scared easily.

"Izaya, my god, what's wrong?" The brunet scientist spoke with concern.

Ignoring his friend completely, Izaya made a lunge at Shizuo and grabbed onto the lapels of his vest, "Who did you tell?" he hissed.

"Excuse me?"

He let go, "Everyone here are the only ones that know about the pregnancy ordeal. Someone in here had to have told _somebody_!"

Shinra stood up in defiance, "Izaya, why would anyone say anything? What are you going on about?"

"They know." The informant gripped tightly onto the back of the couch.

_[Who?]_

"The Yakuza. They know everything." He then repeated the phone call, "'How's your devil spawn doing? Oh that's right, it died, like the vermin it was.' 'Why don't you tell me how long you've been Heiwajima's fuck buddy?' 'Let this be a warning to you, you sniveling little cocksucker.' That's what they said. I've got a giant ass target on my back now."

Shinra gaped, at a loss for words just like Izaya was, "Well uh… what are you going to do?"

"I was hoping that the protozoan would be so kind as to let me back in his apartment for a while." Izaya suggested lightly.

"Nope."

"Shizuo, Izaya is in grave danger. That doesn't worry you at all?" The doctor was shocked this time.

The bodyguard shook his head, "Not one bit."

* * *

Four days had gone by since Shizuo refused to let Izaya stay at his apartment. It was hell living with the flea the first time, why would he do it again? Now he didn't know too much about the yakuza and what all they do, but in the worst case scenario, Shizuo figured he could beat up a few guys on behalf of the louse.

The day was really uneventful so far. All of Tom's clients for the day had their money ready to pay, giving little work for Shizuo to have to do. The only unique thing that happened was that Kasuka called and they had a nice, albeit brief conversation. The blond was just sitting around watching television when his doorbell rang. Groaning at having to get up, he made his way to the door and opened it.

The sound of fast-paced footsteps down the stairs met his ears. Out of instinct, Shizuo ran after them. He got down 2 flights of stairs and stopped at the 4th floor, looking over the railing to try to find some sort of van or other incriminating vehicle. Unfortunately, onyx eyes met a more unnerving sight instead.

Sprawled out, lying face down on the pavement in a pool of blood, was Izaya.

Eyes widening, Shizuo sprinted down the stairs faster than he's ever run in his life. _Shit shit shit shit shit shit how could I be so fucking stupid?_

Once he made it all the way down, the blond knelt beside the smaller man and rolled him on his back. His face was nearly unrecognizable from the heavy bruising, dried blood and semen that were coated on his chin and forehead. Shizuo bit his lip in guilt as he further surveyed the damage. He held up Izaya's left hand and was horrified at seeing all 5 fingers twisted or distorted in some way, and the right hand just as sickening. The image of Izaya screaming in pain as his fingers were broken one by one flashed through his mind, making him nauseous. Blood stains and cuts in the fabric scattered all over the black V-neck the brunet always wore. Then Shizuo noticed a dark stain on the seat of the man's pants. Wearily, he slid Izaya's pants down to his knees—the second he did, the overwhelming stench of sweat and sex hit him. The informant's anus was still bleeding, the red mixing with the white, which was caked on his inner thighs. As Shizuo covered Izaya's backside up again, he sighed in defeat and shame.

His eyes caught the sight of a small piece of paper that had been partially stained with blood. Picking it up, he managed to translate the English-written note:

"_I hope you like necrophilia, cocksucker."_

Shizuo crumpled the note up in anger and chucked it out of his sight. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. For once, he couldn't blame the flea for this. This time, it was all his fault.

Having no car meant there was no choice but to carry Izaya roughly 32 blocks to Shinra's house. The ragged breathing at least gave Shizuo the comfort of knowing Izaya was still alive.

* * *

"He had several fractures, including: all 10 of his fingers, two ribs, nose, and his left ankle. There was excessive tearing in his rectum, and also we had to pump his stomach." Shinra listed off of his clipboard gravely.

"Why?"

"You don't want to know."

The blond growled, "Tell me anyway."

"Because…" Shinra started with a sigh, "there was too much semen in his stomach and it couldn't be digested."

Hearing all of these things just makes Shizuo even angrier. Izaya was a flea, yes, but there was no way he deserved something like this. Then he remembered what he told Shinra the other day.

"… _he deserves the most gruesome death possible. And one day, I'm gonna be the one to give it to him."_

"So will he live?" Shizuo asked, trying to get his own words out of his head.

"Miraculously, yes. Because of the massive 12-hour surgery I did, almost everything will make a full recovery." The doctor said, flipping through pages on the clipboard.

"Almost?"

"The only thing that will leave scars is the engraving on his arm." Shinra pulled out a picture and showed it to him. Jagged cuts were made on Izaya's inner forearm, which spelled out 'FAG'.

Clenching his fists, Shizuo was fuming, "Can I see him?"

Shinra nodded and let him into the room. Shizuo sat down in the chair next to the bed and watched the brunet's chest as it moved up and down. Hesitantly grasping Izaya's relaxed hand, he had a flashback of Izaya lying in the very same bed, sweating profusely, and squeezing his hand every other minute. Somehow, Shizuo felt he would rather have that scenario than the one he's in right now. He rubbed a calloused thumb over the rough scratches on the fragile hand.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. I shouldn't have let them do this to you, but I did anyway." He spoke out loud, knowing full well no one was listening, "How will I ever forgive myself for this? You could've been killed."

"Like you wouldn't do the same thing."

Steel eyes darted over and met with hazy garnet ones, "Izaya, you're—"

His sentence was cut off by Izaya coughing harshly, "I know, I look like shit. I feel like it too."

"I'm sorry."

Izaya sent a glare in his direction, "Really? You're going to apologize now? Don't even worry about it."

There was a small silence between the two before Shizuo had to say something, "So how do you feel?"

"Does your job include giving a damn about me?" He snapped back.

Shizuo shrugged in retaliation, "I was just trying to be nice, but if you want to be a little bitch about it, that's your problem."

Izaya paused for a moment to think and then sighed, "It kinda feels like I just had a fight with you on an off day. I'm used to everything in my body hurting all at once." He shifted a bit to sit up, "Although I could do without the throbbing in my ass. But it isn't nearly as bad as the morning after our 'thing'. Those bastards were like toddlers compared to you, in size _and_ performance."

The blond rolled his eyes. Only Izaya would get beaten within an inch of his life then be awake and talkative just hours later. Almost reminding Shizuo of himself.

"Though now that I think about it," the informant frowned, "I really can't wait until all of my skin is the same color again, especially my fingers."

Shizuo chuckled but stopped when he looked at said fingers, no two looked like they were normal in the slightest. And he doubted they would ever look completely normal again.

Despite the fact that Izaya acted like he was fine, his body was saying otherwise. Shinra estimated that it would take at least 4 weeks for him to recover enough to leave. Shizuo did try to make it a habit to visit the flea every few days.

One day in particular, Shizuo was visiting with Izaya, whose bruises had mostly faded away by now, and brought up something that wasn't typical conversation.

"You seem happier today." The bodyguard remarked as he twiddled his thumbs.

Izaya nodded, "Yeah, the drugs Shinra put me on are definitely working."

The strong man gave a tiny sly smirk, "I saw you smile when I got here today, as well as yesterday."

"I wasn't smiling. I was thinking of a funny joke." The brunet defended himself.

"Both days?" A blond eyebrow rose in amusement

"They cheer me up."

Shizuo leaned over, putting his elbows on his knees, "Admit it, you care about me."

There was silence, and then Izaya burst into a fit of laughter, "I care about you? Why would I love a monster like you?"

"I never said 'love'." He pointed out, chuckling himself.

Izaya doesn't reply, instead he changes the subject. The blond feels like this is another win for him, discovering a way to have a little fun with his enemy. The slight blush that crept on those pale cheeks, knowing he was caught, that was a victory for Shizuo.

After that day, Shizuo tried often to get that same reaction. More often than not, he would succeed, making him want to tease even more. Every day would consist of a bit of teasing here and there, and Shizuo honestly saw no harm in it whatsoever. It wasn't until almost a week later that Izaya lost it.

Shinra let the blond into the house and saw as Shizuo took notice of the door to Izaya's room being closed, rather than open.

"Izaya told me that he doesn't want to you to visit today." He said lightly, a bit uneasy as to what reaction might occur.

Onyx eyes narrowed behind blue shades, "Did he now? Well we'll just see about that."

Before the doctor could stop him, Shizuo barged into the room anyway. The brunet turned around with a look of surprise, which was quickly replaced with anger.

"I don't want to see you today." He huffed.

"Bullshit." Shizuo scoffed, kicking the door closed and locking it, so they could be alone to talk, "Why didn't you want to me to visit today? You've had no problem with it up until now."

"Why do you even care?"

The bodyguard sat in his chair like usual, "Because I have emotions, unlike you."

"It's not that I don't have emotions, I just don't use them." Izaya shrugged, "Although I do love humans."

"I wish you'd stop saying that." The stronger man mumbled.

"Why, because people hate me? Do you think I don't know that? I got gangbanged and nearly killed two weeks ago—why is that so easy for you to forget?" The informant spat in retaliation.

Shizuo stood up in frustration, "It's not! I won't ever forget what happened to you that night. From now on, I promise I'll protect you."

Izaya nearly doubled over in laughter, "You're gonna protect me now?" His face got serious, "I guess that makes sense, seeing as how you took such good care of me while I was knocked up. Like when you came to my apartment, called me a slut who sleeps with clients, and threw me down two flights of stairs. Also, I remember that time when I came to _your_ apartment drunk as hell, and instead of take me home, you took advantage of my vulnerable self, getting me pregnant in the first place."

A silent glare was a response.

He continued, "Maybe next time you oughta think before you make empty promises. And by the way, monsters don't have emotions."

"Let me tell you something." Shizuo spoke in a quiet, but firm voice, "If it weren't for me, that kid wouldn't have even gotten to see the fucking light of day. I nearly had to force you to take prenatal vitamins so he would be healthy. You didn't even want the kid, in fact I recall you wanted to get rid of it the minute you found out. I had to threaten you with your life just for you to reconsider. So if you want to talk about emotions, I definitely have more of a heart than you do. I said I was sorry for what happened to you, and I meant it. For the past two weeks, I've been trying to gain your trust and maybe gain a friendship, but if you're going to be fucking difficult, you can die alone."

The brunet shook his head, chuckling to himself, "'Friends'? We could never be true friends, Shizuo, and I'll tell you why. It isn't because we've fought for so long, it's not because we slept together, and it isn't even about the kid anymore. The reason we can never have a nice friendship is because of the Christmas Party."

"The Dollars Christmas Party? Why in the fuck—"

"Because you kissed me." Izaya interrupted with his answer, "We stood under that mistletoe and even though I told you not to, you kissed me in front of everybody. Do you know how humiliating that was for me? So no, I can't take any sort of platonic relationship seriously with you, Shizuo."

Shizuo took his shades off and pinched the bridge of his nose, "You've got to be fucking kidding me. I cannot believe you. I put all of my time and effort into everything that's happened since this all started, never once putting my best interests first. Then I get this silly little idea in my head that maybe we could call a truce, or at least get along. Frankly, I'm fucking sick and tired of being enemies with you. And here I thought that this whole journey we both had could've brought us close enough to stop fighting. After everything that I did for you, you never once thanked me or showed any type of gratitude for what I did. You'd throw another insult and be done. I was patient with you when you were bitchy and when you were suicidal. And now you decide you're going to give up on me because I _unknowingly _kissed you in front of others, plus it wasn't like they thought it meant anything anyway." He headed towards the door, "I can see now that these past two years have been an utter waste of time. I promise you, you won't ever have to deal with my sorry face again."

Izaya watched quietly, as the other opened the door and shut it behind him. After waiting a few seconds, he sighed to himself. About 15 minutes later, Shinra walked in and started changing his IV. Izaya could just see the disapproval behind the man's glasses.

Finally, he couldn't stand the silence anymore, "How much did he tell you?"

"He didn't have to tell me, I read it on his face." Shinra replied, not making eye contact, "You hurt him."

"He did the same to me."

It was then that Shinra finally looked at Izaya, "I hope one day you wake up and see past your stuck-up demeanor. The sooner you realize how you feel, the better. Shizuo isn't gonna wait forever."

Izaya blinked a few times before realizing what the doctor said, "Wait, what? What do you mean by that?"

"You're an informant, right? Figure it out yourself." Shinra bit back as he was walking out the door.

* * *

A month passed. Izaya healed up and left Shinra's apartment. Within a day, he was back out strolling the streets once more. He never saw nor heard about the protozoan lurking around when he visited Ikebukuro. He preferred to not dwell on the fact, focusing on more important things.

Then the day came at last, the day he encountered the monster for the first time since their argument over a month ago.

Izaya was just walking down the sidewalk and wasn't really looking where he was going, his mind off somewhere else. Suddenly, he bumped into a bigger person. Out of habit, he apologized and started to continue walking, that is, until he saw who it was he ran into.

"Hm? Oh, hey flea." The blond muttered as he went on his way.

Frozen for a second, Izaya almost let him walk away. But then those words Shinra had said to him sprung into his mind, and he thought better of it.

"Shizu-chan, I'd like to talk to you." He called out to the other, who was a few feet away.

Shizuo waved him off, "What makes you think I'd want to talk to you?"

"Because I want to apologize."

The man stopped in his tracks, "What did you just say?"

Izaya sighed, "I want to apologize."

Turning around, Shizuo walked back up to Izaya and looked around. In one swift motion, he pulled Izaya into the nearest abandoned alley, "You have 5 minutes. Start talking."

The brunet knew he had no time to lose, so he cut to the chase, "These last few years have been pretty shitty between you and me. I had been involuntarily thrown into a situation that I never thought I'd have to deal with. Not only that, but I had to experience part of what most call the worst pain a human being can endure. Among the numerous other things I went through, I guess I forgot that you had to make some pretty big sacrifices too. I don't quite know how to explain this but," he ran his fingers through his hair as he thought, "I don't feel the same around you anymore—and it's not in a bad way either. It used to be, whenever we were within ten feet of each other, I would get this excitement-fueled adrenaline rush. I only ever thought of you as my day's work out. Now, it feels all wrong. Right now even, I feel like, after everything we went through together, I can almost…" Trailing off, Izaya fought to find the right words, but came up with none, "Shinra told me something after you left that day. He said 'the sooner you realize how you feel, the better. Shizuo isn't going to wait forever.' I'm still confused as to what it means but I'm pretty sure my 5 minutes are up now, huh?"

Standing there, awestruck, Shizuo honestly wasn't even paying attention to the time. When Izaya told him what Shinra said, it reminded him of the conversation they had before Shizuo left.

_He slammed the door shut behind him, exasperated beyond belief, "That fucking flea."_

_Shinra set down the paperwork he was working on, crossing the room to comfort his best friend, "What happened?"_

"_I tried to be nice. I tried to offer some sort of truce between us and he goes fucking irate talking about how we can't have any sort of 'platonic relationship' because of stupid shit." The blond rambled on and on._

"_Well do you want a platonic relationship with Izaya?"_

_Shizuo shook his head in confusion, "I don't know… maybe?"_

_After giving it a thought, Shinra added, "Or perhaps you are looking for something more?"_

"_Excuse me?"_

_The doctor put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder, "Well you know, with all that you two have gone through as a couple, I wouldn't blame you if you developed a few feelings for him."_

_An angry glare was sent the brunet's way, but hidden behind that anger was uncertainty and confliction. In the bodyguard's mind, a war had broken out, and no one could tell who was winning. There was a long pause, Shizuo deep in thought, battling his emotions. _

"_What's it to you?" Shizuo sighed in defeat._

_The grip on his shoulder tightened, "Shizuo, I hope you realize what kind of position you have let yourself fall into."_

"_I know."_

"_He doesn't care about anybody but himself—including you."_

_The blond chuckled to himself, "Yeah, you're probably right."_

"Izaya, what are you driving at?" He swallowed harshly, barely able to stand on his own two feet anymore.

"What Shinra said… is it true?"

Shizuo knew he had been backed into a corner, unsure of what to say, he remained silent.

Izaya continued, "I guess I can take that as my answer." He sighed, "You know, if it were anyone else, I would make a snide comment and thank them, yet reject them at the same time. But you… you just had to be the one to do it. I thought for sure that you would be one of the _last_ people to come crawling to me. Does everyone I meet think that I'm their Prince Charming, happily ever after included?"

The blond gritted his teeth, "Look flea, if you wanted to reject me, all you had to do was just say 'no'. All this extra shit is doing nothing but rubbing salt in the wound."

Red orbs shone confusion for just a second, but then recomposed, "You must have misunderstood me. I never said anything about rejecting you."

"But you—"

"I wasn't finished." He explained, amusement in his eyes, "I've traveled to a lot of places and met countless people. Because of my demeanor, they act wary of me or just cold. I wonder what I've done to them to make them act that way. The only 'humans' that seem to stand me are you and Shinra. Shinra has Celty, but you… you somehow have found it in that protozoan heart of yours to choose me, out of anyone in the world. I was waiting for some girl or other harlot to throw themselves at me and I would go from there." He paused for a minute to collect himself, "I'm 25 years old—a quarter of my life already gone—and now I feel like I can't wait for that girl anymore. I fear that if I don't find someone soon, I'll be forced to walk the path of life by myself. I'm very independent, but some company every once in a while is nice, y'know? I have the ability to control everyone in this city, except you. Your damn unpredictability would give me the exciting life of a never-ending guessing game."

Izaya lifted his eyes to Shizuo's, hidden behind those blue shades. Before Shizuo knew what was happening, Izaya's warm mouth was over his own. As quickly as it had come, the warmth was gone. The taller man looked down at the other particularly dumbfounded.

Seeing his expression, Izaya giggled, "Did I cause your brain to shut down or something?" he then sighed, "Look, I'm willing to give this a try if you are. I am offering myself up to you. You get one chance, and if you screw it up, then too bad."

At that moment, Shizuo said two words that he never thought he'd ever say to the brunet, "Thank you."

Placing a calloused hand behind the other's neck, Shizuo pulled Izaya to his lips once more. With no hesitation, Izaya responded back, adding more wood to the passionate fire. He tangled his manicured, but still scarred hands into blond locks. As the kiss became more heated, tongues started to dance in each other's mouths. Strong arms wrapped themselves around Izaya's small frame, pulling him closer. It was like a mix between lust, unexpressed feelings and frustrations. So that they could catch their breath, the couple stood there, faces inches from one another, exchanging quick pecks.

"This can't be happening." Shizuo whispered, still catching his breath.

The brunet chuckled, "Why do you think that?"

He removed his shades and shut his eyes, "I didn't think you would care."

Izaya rolled his eyes and placed a hand on the blond's face, "You're so silly. Of course I care, I'm not that heartless. It just takes a bit of effort to see that side of me. All I did was carry your son for several months—no big deal."

Shizuo's eyes fluttered open as the informant placed a chaste kiss on his cheek before breaking the embrace completely. He sighed with a grin, "I hate you sometimes."

"Love you too." Izaya smiled back.

* * *

_DONE. END. FINITO. GRANDE FINALE. HAPPY ENDING. NO NEED FOR A SEQUEL._

_I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this story as much as I have writing it. To this day I still am obsessed with Durarara (amongst other various things) and am so happy with all the reception this has gotten. Thank you all so much who stuck it out until the end. I know I lost a few readers after Matteiru died, so some have left._

_I love you guys! Maybe someday I'll write another Shizaya fic for you beautiful people. But until then, bye!_


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